Just For One Day
by ghostofgonzo
Summary: Sequel to 'Back to the Disaster' and 'Steal the Glamour from Death'. They succeeded in saving everyone. But not everyone was meant to survive. Hermione and Fred are now back to the start of her journey and have to re-live their lives without remembering their past. But all magic comes with a price and a choice must be made.
1. Prologue

Author's note time! I'm finally posting the third installment of my trilogy! Yay! I'm terribly sorry about the delay and won't make excuses, but thank all of you who come back to read this. I'm not going to try and guess a timeline for it to be done, or even a length at this point, but I promise I WILL finish this if it kills me. This is the sixth draft of this I'm posting as I write mostly so I don't delete the whole gorram thing again and am forced to continue with this specific version of the same story I've been writing for over a year now. For those of you who have been reading since I first posted Steal the Glamour from Death, I thank you for your interest and patience and hope it can hold out long enough for me to finish this thing. In a related story, I've decided that if I do get around to writing another story after this, I will avoid silly things like trilogies. I know generally how this story goes and ends and have since halfway through Back to the Disaster. Because of that, my interest keeps wandering on top of legions of other issues in getting this written. Being generally stubborn, though, I refuse to explore those other ideas until I actually have this finished and posted.

Disclaimer (for this and all the following chapters): I own nothing. Except a car, a lot of books, and too many cats. Seriously, if anyone wants a kitten, I've got quite the variety. If anyone wants their mother, please take her, she's the only cat I've ever met that doesn't like me. I won't even tell my husband, who actually likes her. It'll be our secret. Point is, I don't own Harry Potter, the characters, any lingering plot points from the books and/or movies I choose to take advantage of, etc. etc. etc. Don't sue me, I work an hourly customer service job. You won't get money I don't have. =)

PROLOGUE:

As the train ride wore on, Hermione was recalling details of her new life easier and easier throughout the conversation. When she became aware of this, she took a moment to remember where she had been, all that she had done, and was disturbed to find huge chunks of memory missing from her previous life. When the majority of the compartment got up to stand in line at the trolley outside in the corridor, she looked over at Fred, who hadn't noticed anyone leaving and was chewing his lip nervously.

"Did this happen to you? Did you start to forget?" she asked quietly as she sat down next to him, causing him to look up at her sharply.

"No. I remembered everything the same way you did this morning...until now. Is it because we're both back in our proper timelines?" he whispered back, looking as concerned as she felt.

"Perhaps. I can almost remember being told something about a second chance...it's so fuzzy now. I can barely remember even getting the amulet!" she clutched the ever-present amulet around her neck, looking down at it.

"Tell me about it. Where did you get it?" he asked, looking at it as if he'd never seen it before.

"A family vacation. It's important. It's supposed to help me see better. It's going to make the future bright again," she told him, scrunching up her forehead trying to remember details. "I can't remember exactly, but I shouldn't take it off. It needs to stay with me at all times."

"So we're forgetting everything. How long until we're just normal kids again, you reckon?"

"I don't know, Fred. By putting us back on the morning of our first year, I daresay we'll walk into Hogwarts as first and third years to the best of our personal knowledge," she looked up at him with tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm not sure I want to forget everything. I certainly don't want to forget you."

"You won't. I won't let you. Even if we're left with just this life, I made sure we were friends. We've been close. Not as close as we were at the end, but closer than we ever were the first time around," he assured her, hugging her tightly. "This - you and me? It's real. We'll have it again when we're older. And it'll be built on years of friendship and laughter, not too many deaths, hardship, and terror. Even if we don't remember before, we still have now."

"Promise?" she asked in a small voice, willing the tears away and allowing a small smile at the picture he painted for their future.

"Promise," Fred told her as seriously as he'd ever said anything in her presence, pulling away and smiling at her. "So long as you reconsider Ravenclaw."

"Aw, is ickle Hermione worried about the sorting again?" George broke in as he plopped down on Fred's other side, dropping a box of jelly slugs in his twin's lap.

"Just a little. I didn't have any friends before I met all of you," she reminded the compartment as they returned, Draco taking the seat at her other side. "What if no one else likes me? What if I get sorted into Ravenclaw and I have no friends in my house?"

"I already told you I'd make sure I joined you," Draco reminded her as everyone looked a little uneasy trying to figure out what to say. "It's not like I really had friends before mum started working with Gideon and I met everyone. I mean, I had Dora, but that was it and only when she visited and my grandmother didn't find a way to keep me from seeing her. We're in the same boat here. But you're right. What if everyone else in Ravenclaw hates us? You could get by in Gryffindor, but I'd be an outsider there even if I managed to talk the hat into sorting me with the rest of this brash lot of weirdos."

"Hey! Majority rules here! You two are the weirdos!" Harry protested, half joking.

"And you haven't been sorted into Gryffindor," Hermione pointed out, grinning. "Who knows? You might end up a weirdo like us."

"Doubt it," Harry brushed off her warning, quickly hiding the worry that flickered over his face.

"If you're so worried about being accepted, why don't you ask for Hufflepuff?" Ron asked, making one of his randomly acute observations. "Aunt Cassie loved it there. Said everyone's really accepting and even if they didn't get on too well personally, they always had each other's backs. The whole loyalty thing. Cedric from over the hill's been Hufflepuff for a few years and he seems to be pretty happy with it too. So's Dora - you almost never see her out of a good mood, but that could be her…" Ron thought about it briefly through a mouthful of chocolate frog before shaking it off as unimportant.

"Point is, that was the goal of Helga Hufflepuff from what you were telling us, wasn't it, Hermione? She'd take in everyone who didn't feel like they belonged anywhere else? Aunt Cassie told me they were all about loyalty and work ethic," he paused to wrinkle his nose at the last bit. "Tells me I need to be more Hufflepuff any time I'm complaining about chores. But you've got loads of work ethic. And you're plenty loyal. Both of you, actually. Seems like a lot of worry for nothing."

"That's...remarkably astute, Ron," Hermione finally commented after gaining her bearings. Everyone else was still looking at him like they've never met him before. Ron just shrugged and nabbed one of Harry's chocolate frogs before the boy snapped out of his surprise, biting the head off before it had a chance to take it's one good jump.

"I get one of those every few months or so."

"That's how we knew he was a wizard, actually," George jumped in, eyes sparkling in a shared look with his twin.

"Thought he was a squib until we realized these random bits of wisdom just _had_ to be accidental magic. I hate to think of all he'll lose once he gets control of himself," Fred finished the thought, earning a half-hearted swipe to the head from a grinning Ron while everyone else laughed.

"Maybe he'll have control over that too - be able to call it up on demand," Neville offered.

"I thought his accidental magic was locking Fred out of the house in his skivvies on Christmas morning...?" Draco mused, trying to remember the story.

"Any more of that talk and you're banned to Slytherin," Fred warned the blonde, causing the compartment to explode in laughter once more.

The friends forgot their worries for a while longer, laughing and joking until one by one of them fell off to sleep, lulled by the gentle rocking of the train, the end of the candy-induced sugar high, and the general drop of the conversation that had started to meander into nothingness. Hermione was leaning on the shoulder of a napping Fred just dozing off herself when she felt someone pulling on her sleeve.

"Draco?"

"Would you feel better about Hufflepuff?" he asked, looking anxious again.

"I don't know...are you really that worried about it?" she asked, forcing herself to focus.

"I _can't_ be Slytherin. They'll destroy me. Sure I'm plenty cunning and ambitious, but they _know_ how I was raised, who I was raised with. My grandmother's told me stories of what happens to people who have known weakness in that house. There's nothing I can do about it, they already know and nothing I do to hide it will work. She was trying to make me stronger, I think, or more like my father, but that's not who I am. And I'm not Gryffindor. I can't follow the rest of them. I just…" he paused to choose his words.

"You're new to the magical world, Hermione. But I'm a Malfoy. That still means something to people. It's why my mum uses Aunt Andy's name on everything. No one's afraid of a Tonks. There's no horror stories about what their family's done for centuries," he stopped, looking around to make sure no one else was hearing his confession. "I can't go in there alone. The only house I stand a chance in, I don't belong in."

"So you really don't care where you are so long as it's not Slytherin or Gryffindor?" Hermione mused, searching his face for deceit. "I suppose Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw would be helpful in staying under the radar. Is there one you prefer?"

"Not really. It'd be nice to have a chance to be in a house as united as Hufflepuff, but I'm more likely to be ignored and left alone in Ravenclaw. Both have their advantages."

"I know what you mean. Well, not exactly the same advantages, but they'd both work. How about I talk to the hat and figure it out from there?" she offered, vaguely remembering the fear his name had inspired in so many in her previous life.

"It's probably the only way we won't spend the next couple hours talking it in circles," he conceded, reaching out a hand. "We do it together then?"

"Together," she agreed, shaking his hand with a smile even as a shadow of her previous life looked on aghast, asking who she thought she was dealing with. Shaking off the shadow and it's vague memories, she laid her head back down on Fred's shoulder while Draco returned to the book he had been reading.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE:

Percy Weasley made his first appearance about fifteen minutes before they pulled into Hogsmeade. He had pulled last rounds on the train with a pretty Ravenclaw prefect named Penelope and, seeing as they were in the last compartment, they signalled the end of his prefect duties until he had to help shepherd the students to the boats or carriages upon arrival. He woke them up with clipped phrases, obviously nervous about arriving and starting his first year of true responsibility for real, but Hermione still pursed her lips a bit at the way he was talking to them. It was difficult for her to reconcile Prefect Percy with the Percy who exchanged magical novels for muggle ones over the past summer and spent hours discussing them with her and explaining his summer assignments and Hogwarts in general while the others played quidditch in the Weasley's yard. Her worries were partially dispelled while she followed him and Penelope into the hallway, heading for the bathroom to change seeing as she was the only girl.

"Penelope's right, Hermione. You'd fit into Ravenclaw just fine, but if you're looking for a homier environment, you're better to set your sights on Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," he assured her after she had asked the other prefect about her house. Most of her interactions had been with Gryffindors, after all. Penelope's answer had been matter of fact and logical, softened only by the warm smile she gave her at the end that showed her innate kindness no amount of logic or detachment would erase.

"I don't know if Gryffindor's really for me," she confessed, avoiding eye contact.

"I didn't either. I initially wanted to go there because it was expected of me. I've accomplished a lot and am doing very well. I'm even happy with my decision - coming from a large family doesn't prepare one for being separated from their brothers, you know," Percy assured her. "Happy as I am, I can't help wondering if I should have made a different choice. The hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw and then tried to push me to Slytherin instead. I suppose I _am_ ambitious, but we both know that wouldn't have worked out well. But my choice has been made and I'll make do with what I've got. It's how the Weasleys have always gotten through life," he finished resolutely with a smile. "Follow your gut. As much as Ravenclaw may have helped or suited me, when I considered family, there really wasn't a choice anymore. I knew where I belonged."

Hermione thought on Percy's words while she changed. She thought on them while she sat through the last few anxious minutes in the compartment with her friends. She thought on them while she followed a gigantic man named Hagrid to little boats that sat four people. She thought on them as she watched Harry, Ron, and Neville climb into a boat, only remembering Draco when they turned to ask why she wasn't joining them. She realized her choice was made when she stood aside to let a boy who had been chatting about quidditch with Ron take her place, much to the other's confusion.

"I'll take the next one," she told them, looking down the line of boats filling quickly. Almost none of them had two seats left now.

"You sure?" Harry asked, looking at the quidditch fan Anthony a bit critically.

"Draco and I will find a place," she assured him before looking to Draco as they walked away, squashing a mysterious feeling inside of her that warned her against trusting the blonde boy at her side and offering a hand. "Together, right?"

"Right. We've got this one, Potter," Draco called back over his shoulder with a wave after taking her offered hand. "Look, there's space with those two. I think the redhead is related to Amelia Bones in the DMLE."

"Is it alright if we share with you?" Hermione asked, approaching the boat where the red head girl was sitting whispering anxiously to the blonde with pigtails next to her.

"You want to share with us?" she asked, making a double take at the sight of Draco approaching her boat.

"There were five of us on the train. Only four to a boat. No one wanted to be left alone, so I offered to find a place with Hermione," he explained with a shrug.

"Oh...I mean, yes, of course you can share with us. I'm sorry - that was rude of me, I'm just so anxious about the sorting," she explained, turning a bit pink, but still looking at him warily.

"Probably not half as worried as me. I'm a muggleborn and have no idea what I'm getting into. And Draco's got me beat by a mile," Hermione offered a hand with a smile. "Hermione Granger. And this is Draco Malfoy. We met through my sponsors."

"Susan Bones. This is Hannah Abbott. Her mom and my auntie were friends at Hogwarts. We've known each other for ages," she introduced the two of them as they all shook hands, looking at Draco with a bit more confusion now.

"What's got you so worried about the sorting? I've got my grandmother harping on me to end up in Slytherin and my cousin begging me to join her in Hufflepuff," Draco offered as everyone settled in.

"Her auntie was Gryffindor, and so was her dad, but Susan doesn't think she'd belong and her aunt would be disappointed if she gets sorted elsewhere," Hannah jumped in as he friend started stuttering a bit. "I'm probably going to be Hufflepuff - my whole family has been for generations. But yours has been Slytherin, hasn't it?"

"Aside from my cousin Dora who's a seventh year Hufflepuff and my second cousin Sirius who was Gryffindor," he told them with a grin. "Maybe I'll try for Ravenclaw so the Black family can have the whole lot in their tree."

That got the two girls giggling, most of their nervousness gone. Hermione tried to remember why everyone was so weird around Draco, but only vaguely remembered a terrible story about his father from the war that had ended when they were babies and his apprehension about this very thing on the train. The four were chatting amicably until their first sight of Hogwarts castle. If she had any doubts about magic being real until now, they were entirely gone as soon as the turrets and twinkling lights came into view. It was just a building, but there was something otherworldly about it. Hermione could practically _feel_ the magic, understanding what it was for the first time with a start. Pushing aside a feeling of deja vu, she leaned towards Draco.

"I can feel it. Percy was explaining to me how magic is a type of energy, but I didn't quite grasp it. I understand what he was talking about now," she told him, receiving only a nod in response.

They met up with the other three while waiting to be marched into the great hall for their sorting, introducing them to Susan and Hannah while they were formally introduced to Anthony Goldstein, whose father worked with Mr. Weasley and Ron knew only well enough to know he had a fellow Chudley Cannons fan beside him. If the first sight of Hogwarts hadn't stolen her breath, the first sight of the hall would have. Despite being a ball of nervous energy, she half heard herself telling Draco about the enchanted ceiling she had read about in Hogwarts: A History. He snorted at her when he realized she was quoting a book he had teased her for reading until the binding had started to break, but looked every bit as nervous as she was.

"Together?" he whispered a bit later as the hat sat upon Anthony Goldstein's head, his anxiety almost a palpable thing.

"Together," she told him resolutely as the hat sorted Anthony into Ravenclaw and Professor McGonagall called her name. Taking a seat on the stool, she grinned at the boys she had spent the train ride with, each looking slightly green and worried despite trying to send back encouraging smiles, before nodding at Draco once more before the hat covered her eyes.

 _ **Miss Granger...I feel like we've had this conversation before.**_

 _Me too...but I've never been to Hogwarts…?_

 _ **You have and you have not. Very interesting. Well, even if we don't clearly remember it, this conversation has already been had, so no need to stretch this out. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?**_

Hermione froze, wondering what she truly wanted. Promises aside, it would do her no good to trap herself somewhere she didn't belong for seven years. Somewhere she didn't belong…

 _Are those my only choices?_

 _ **You were expecting more than two houses to suit you well, Miss Granger? Most students are surprised they'd be considered for more than one.**_

 _It's not so much I expected more...perhaps I just expected more of an opinion from you rather than a choice? I don't know what exactly I expected, and that bothers me more than anything because I feel like I should, that I know exactly what it is somewhere...hidden, maybe?_

 _ **Hm...I can see your conflict and can assure you that it'd be best to put it from your mind for now. Focus on being a student, living your life. It's something deep inside your head here and you**_ **will** _**have to face it at some point. But not just yet, I don't think. So Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? You have the mind of a Ravenclaw and the heart of a Gryffindor. The loyalty of a Hufflepuff, come to that, but not the temperament. Do you want a say in this, Miss Granger?**_

 _Of course I do, but I wonder if it would be a wise decision to question your judgement. You have centuries of experience in exactly this and I'm just shy of twelve, after all._

The hat actually chuckled at that. Out loud if the murmuring from outside their conversation was any way of judging. She, and the entire hall, waited patiently until it got past it's mirth.

 _ **Going on twelve indeed. Regardless, you are correct in my having centuries more experience than any part of you. Of course, you also made the decision for yourself.**_

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted just before it was lifted from her head. Returning Professor McGonagall's small smile, Hermione took the same path Anthony Goldstein had before her name was called, sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. Looking back at the un-sorted students, Ron was all but glaring at her, looking quite grouchy indeed. Harry seemed a little put-out, but smiled and gave her a thumbs-up anyway. Neville had a sad smile and a nod, more to himself than to her, having perhaps known that Gryffindor wasn't her cup of tea despite how much they had all wanted to be in the same house.

Draco didn't look at her. He didn't look at anything but the hat, even after Neville's sorting into Hufflepuff, and didn't cheer or smile for anyone. When McGonagall called his name, he practically marched up to the stool, his whole form taking on the determination that had been clearly etched onto his face following Hermione's sorting. The hat took less time than it had with either Hermione or Neville, but chuckled out loud at one point like it had when sorting Hermione. One of the older Ravenclaws noted it was fairly unusual, especially twice in one sorting, and the hat hadn't said anything to the crowd while sorting aside from house names since the Weasley twins had been sorted. Apparently Fred had stalled the hat quite some time, leading to some actual muttering and a few chuckles. George hadn't taken nearly as long, but had earned a flat out laugh from the fraying relic. Shortly after the chuckle, the hat announced Draco to be a Ravenclaw.

McGonagall looked surprised as she lifted the hat off the boy, faltering for a moment incredulously, but grinned back at him when Draco looked up at her with a triumphant smile before jumping off the stool and hurrying over to the spot Hermione had saved for him next to her. He was so pleased with himself, he didn't even flush or stumble awkwardly when she flung her arms around him in a congratulatory hug. She didn't know why, but Hermione felt that Draco not only being sorted into Ravenclaw, but _actively choosing_ the house was something to be celebrated and only heralded good things.

Those at the head table seemed to have similar thoughts by their reactions to Draco's sorting, the headmaster going as far as to raise his goblet slightly in a subtle toast to the eleven year old. Draco and Hermione were so pleased to be sorted together, they almost missed Harry and Ron being sorted into Gryffindor while whispering congratulations and reassurances to each other. He may not have been the wizarding friend she had seen the most of in the previous year since she met her sponsors, but Draco was one of the few she had had an immediate rapport with and there was almost no one she'd rather be by her side for the next seven years. As odd as it seemed when she thought about it for more than a split second, Hermione was strongly drawn to certain people in the wizarding world. She couldn't recall it having ever happened with non-magical people, but it was a real, almost tangible, thing amongst the magical. Honestly, she felt the pull towards almost every magical person she had met, and had wondered if magical people were just drawn to others like them, until she had set foot at Hogwarts.

Clustered in the entrance hall with all the other first years, Hermione realized she could feel the magic in the different students, but that pull wasn't there with almost anyone but her friends. There was a slight tug where Susan and Hannah were concerned, as well as one of the other girls that was sorted into Gryffindor and the twin of the girl sitting next to Anthony Goldstein across from her. But that was only a slight feeling somewhere in the back of her mind like she had forgotten to turn off the kettle or something. There was a strong pull to her friends, particularly the Weasley twins.

She could actually feel where they were in the hall, which led her to ponder Percy's insistence that magic was a form of energy a bit more, deciding it would be a side project of hers here at Hogwarts. She mulled over that idea for quite some time while eating absentmindedly. After all, where better to research magic than the most magical place in all of the UK? Perhaps she'd ask Professor McGonagall for help. The upperclassmen told her that Professor Flitwick was their head of house after the feast appeared, and Hermione had immediately felt that same draw towards her new diminutive head of house as soon as she looked at him up at the head table. Despite all that, the pull was stronger with Professor McGonagall. Instinctively, Hermione knew the woman would be incredibly helpful to her in this pursuit, though she had no reason to believe so.

"I can feel you thinking. And supper's almost over. Want to slow down a bit?" Draco suggested, interrupting her introspection. "We're already Ravenclaws, for Merlin's sake, you've no reason to try and be the queen swot here. Quite frankly, I won't let you."

"Queen swot?" she questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"I admit, it would be an accomplishment to get a whole house of swots to bow down and name you their queen, but it would also be really annoying. And boring. And in this house you'd have to work on it so hard, you'd need my help, which I'd feel obliged to give you seeing as you gave up Gryffindor so I wouldn't be lonely, so we'd be so busy making you queen swot of the swottiest swots in Hogwarts we'd never get to have any fun at all. And no one else would want to be our friends. Ever. So you can stop that line of thought right there before the idea fully develops," he drawled, looking utterly bored, before turning to her with a smirk. "Besides, the food's starting to disappear, which means one thing: pudding."

"I could hardly let my ambition to be - what did you call it? - the queen swot of the swottiest swots in Hogwarts distract you from your sweets," she deadpanned back. "Even though I wasn't thinking about that at all."

"And what were you thinking about instead of introducing yourself to the people you'll be spending the next seven years sharing a tower with like I was?" he asked pointedly, taking a rather large serving of the sticky toffee pudding that had appeared in front of him, causing his eyes to light up in delight. She blushed as he started digging in, smirking into his plate.

"I was thinking about a side project. Percy had said something over the summer about magic just being energy and now that I'm in a semi-sentient magical building surrounded by all magical people I've noticed...why are you looking at me like that?" she trailed off upon noting his raised eyebrow.

"That sounds exactly like what I was saying," he pointed out, turning in his seat to spoon some of the sticky confection onto her empty plate. "Here, you should start the year off on a high note. Toffee's amazing and your parents won't have let you eat it with all the sugar and sticky. Try it. From September through May, excluding holidays, you can try all the things all the other kids were allowed to eat that your parents forbade because they destroy your teeth. Start with the toffee pudding. You'll miss it come summer, I promise."

"I think there's more to school than sticky toffee pudding," Hermione pointed out, taking a forkful to inspect before trying it. She felt her eyes open wider as she did - it was very sweet, but like nothing she had tried before. Rules were important and she never broke them, not even when she was visiting at the Weasleys. She would politely decline dessert, feeling her parents would know if she had eaten the things they had told her to avoid to save her teeth. She hadn't really intended to have more than a bite or two to placate Draco, but was now enjoying it enthusiastically and even considering a plate of biscuits looking far more sugary than her parents ever would have allowed between her and Anthony.

"Of course there's more to school than pudding. But Hogwarts knows what they're doing there. There's also more to school than what we learn in classes, which is why I will, very kindly, agree to help you with your project before you ask. Plus, it sounds slightly interesting and I don't even really know what it's about, so I imagine I won't be upset about offering my help when I learn the actually interesting parts. Despite my teasing, I do like the way your mind works and the ideas you come up with," he conceded before nudging her and nodding to the people across from them.

"That's Anthony Goldstein. You met him briefly at the boats. His dad works at the ministry and he, quite unfortunately, cheers for the same quidditch team as Ron. This is Padma Patil. Her twin Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor. Their father is an ambassador from the Indian Ministry, but they've been here almost as long as they can remember. This is Tracey Davis. She's from a prominently Slytherin family like me as is the girl next to her, Daphne Greengrass. We all know each other vaguely. They were forced into more interaction with the 'right sort' than I ever was, though, so sucks to be them," he explained, earning a glare and an eye roll from the two girls. Everyone had looked up and shook Hermione's hand as Draco explained who they were.

"I'm Terry Boot," the boy on Draco's other side offered with a wave, rather than shaking her hand from around Draco. "I don't really have a story, but I've got two older siblings in this house. I caught part of what you were saying to Draco about magic being energy, though. Don't know what you're on about, but he's right - it sounds interesting. I may not be as naturally gifted as my brother and sister, but I am good at research. My mum always teased I had the work ethic of a Hufflepuff when it came to studying. If you need help and want to float the idea around more people, let me know."

"Thank you," Hermione told him genuinely. No one had ever offered to help her with independent studies before. Suddenly feeling slightly more embarrassed, she turned to the boy on her other side, who she had sat down next to without even introducing herself, focusing instead on seeing if Draco would join her house and where her other friends would end up before being distracted by her own thoughts. "I'm so sorry I didn't introduce myself, that was terribly rude of me. I'm Hermione Granger," she offered, cheeks red.

"Michael Corner," he offered, shaking her hand. "Don't worry about it. It's been a day for all of us and Draco mentioned you were muggle born, yeah? I suppose even with sponsor families and all being so fully immersed in a different culture so quickly and being expected to just adapt immediately is a bit much for kids our age."

"You've got that in one," Anthony agreed, drawing a few stares and raised eyebrows. "Hey, my dad's a wizard, my mum's a squib. We live on the muggle side of things. I went to a muggle school, live in a muggle neighborhood in Croydon, played footie in a muggle park on weekends, the whole package. Of course, my dad works at the Ministry, so I've been to see him at work and spend the occasional afternoon at Diagon Alley, which means I was more exposed than your average muggleborn, but it was a rare thing.

"My mum is very good about accepting my dad and I have magic even if she doesn't, but it does make her a bit sad, so aside from where he works, even my dad goes through life mostly as a muggle for her and my brother, who's also a squib I guess. She's been very dedicated to making sure both of us felt loved and valued. Dad says her family wasn't very good to her because she wasn't magical. He grew up near them and had been friends with her when they were little, but lost touch when he went to Hogwarts. Very romantic story about her sending an owl hoping he'd help her out when she left home that ends with them falling in love and marrying, but I don't even know what her maiden name is, she won't talk about it at all."

"Davis," Tracey supplied, looking like she had seen a ghost. "Is your mother's name Beatrice?" Anthony nodded incredulously. "Then her name's Davis. Probably. My family's home is near the Goldstein family home, though it was sold when I was really little. My dad talks about how he went to Hogwarts with the kids that used to live there every time we pass it for one reason or another. My mother doesn't know I know anything about it, and wouldn't approve, but my dad sat me down about a month ago. Told me to keep an eye out for anyone whose mother is a squib named Beatrice. He had a younger sister that ran away from home while he was in his seventh year. Because she was a squib, he never fully bought the pureblood stuff the kids in his house were spouting, but his parents did and were deeply ashamed of her. Kept her a secret best they could once she didn't get her letter. A few days before her sixteenth birthday, she stole some money, packed a bag, and flooed out in the middle of the night. They were able to track her to Diagon Alley, but she disappeared somewhere in there.

"My dad was very slightly involved with the wrong side in the war. Being in Slytherin back then, especially with parents like his, it would have been impossible to have avoided it entirely. He never took the mark and most of his involvement were some shady deals he set up for other people, using his connections more than doing anything personally, so he got a few years of house arrest and that was that. My mother's always been ashamed of him for not being more involved fighting for 'the right sort of people', but he's the head of house, so all she can do is complain and insult. His parents died during the war and he's been searching for his sister behind my mother's back since his house arrest ended. To think she's only in Croydon married to a wizard with a son in my year and house," she surmised, shaking her head in shock.

Daphne put a hand on her shoulder while Draco reached across the table to squeeze her hand. The three shared looks of understanding. At least Draco's mother was ruling his house until he reached his majority, so he was spared most of the pureblood dogma the other two were raised with. Daphne because both her parents were true believers, Tracey because her mother was and her father had put on a good show to survive school and his parents.

"Do you think...we could be friends? Or at least spend some time getting to know one another? I only have one other cousin and Pansy's...well, vile. There's really no other word for it," Tracey asked, earning a snort from Draco and a grin from Daphne.

"Of course we're going to get to know each other. I say friends depends on that," Anthony assured her. "I'm sure you don't want to be stuck with a friend you don't really get on with personally just because there's a high likelihood they're your cousin," he teased, getting a smile in return as dessert disappeared from the table.

"I'd like that a lot," she decided, falling into step beside him as the prefects led them from the hall. "And maybe my dad could send a letter to her through you? He's been searching for years."

"What kind of person would I be to say no to that?" Anthony laughed. "But this means you have to help me with my brother's letters. He's already given me a list of questions and I have no doubt his first letter will only bring more!"

"I forgot you said you had a brother," she mused, turning to Daphne with a beatific grin. "I've got two cousins who aren't pureblood supremacist gits!"

"Lucky," the other girl groused, looking supremely jealous despite her supportive grin.

"Is it really that bad?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Not for me, I've just got my grandmother and my mum fights her off most of the time. Tracey at least has her father when her mother's out of earshot. Daphne, however, may need somewhere else to live when school's out since she's been sorted outside of Slytherin," he admitted, bringing a scowl to Daphne's face.

"A bit early in the year for scowling, isn't it, little eagle?" Fred's voice popped up at Hermione's side.

"I'd say so, brother mine," George's voice popped up from the far side of Daphne as the Weasley twins made their entrance, distracting the Ravenclaw first years even further from the prefect's guided tour no one had been paying attention to anyway.

"I suppose you're right and I should save the scowling for when I'm a homeless, disinherited Ravenclaw," Daphne deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

"Who would disinherit a pretty face like yours?" Lee Jordan arrived, jiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"The great Lord Greengrass," Daphne told him, smirking in her effort not to grin at his antics.

"Merlin, Mya! You sure you didn't get sorted into Slytherin? Walking here with a Greengrass, sharing hugs with a Malfoy...what's this world coming to?" Fred lamented dramatically with a fake faint and a hand to his forehead, finally earning a giggle from Daphne and the attention of the prefect.

"What are three Gryffindors doing following us to Ravenclaw Tower?" he demanded, stopping in his tracks.

"Ah, calm down Dagworth, we're just here to say hello to Hermione and congratulate her on her sorting," Lee protested.

"She's muggleborn. We're her sponsors," George informed him, puffing out his chest importantly.

"Shouldn't you be congratulating your brother on being sorted into the house you should be heading towards?" Dagworth asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably, but we like Hermione better," Fred quipped, winking at her. "But we've interrupted your very informative and necessary tour of things the firsties won't remember come morning, so congratulations, Hermione! We'd be sad about your inevitable demise into swottiness if we weren't around to keep a close eye on you and steer you away from that dreaded path."

"A truer word has never been spoken, brother! Draco's going to need all the help he can get in an environment like this!" George agreed, clapping the younger boy on the back hard enough to make him stumble.

"And congratulations to the rest of you!" Lee agreed, turning to Daphne, "Especially to you, Lady Greengrass. We will be forever grateful you are in a more approachable house than anticipated," he told her as he theatrically bowed over her hand with a loud smack of a kiss.

"Alright, alright, you've said your congratulations! Now get back to your tower before curfew!" Dagworth insisted, shaking his head while Daphne rolled her eyes at the three pranksters. Once they finished their bowing and departed with final grins at Hermione, Dagworth hurried them along, the tour forgotten. "Professor Flitwick will be waiting for us now. The history of the castle will have to wait for another time."

"Why does everyone keep saying I'll be some kind of super swot?" Hermione grumbled as they picked up the pace to the tower.

"Is that supposed to be rhetorical?" Draco asked, bewildered. "I mean, have you met you?"

The arrival at Ravenclaw tower, discussion about the riddle blocking their entry, and a hearty greeting from Professor Flitwick saved Draco from Hermione's ire...mostly. She did get a good smack across the back of his head in, but her argument would have to wait or be forgotten.

Professor Flitwick told them about the tower, explained they'd get their timetables in the morning with enough time to figure out how to get to their morning classes, and then explained their dormitory situation. Every floor in the tower had rooms for two surrounding a small common study area. Each room would have two beds, two wardrobes, two nightstands, and a small shared bath. The common areas had both tables and desks. The desks had soundproofed dividers for when you needed to concentrate without distractions and the tables were for group study or projects. The main floor of the common room was not only a smaller version of the Hogwarts library, but had plenty of room for lounging on comfortable looking furniture to relax with friends or a good book and several areas set aside for more practical hobbies. He explained that because Ravenclaws were defined by their thirst for knowledge and learning, and not all knowledge and learning came from books, he was committed to ensuring there were plenty of other things not just for them to learn, but to help them relax, refocus, and burn off some steam when necessary. A quick glance showed some chess boards, another couple game boards she didn't recognize, woodworking, a few easels and pottery wheels, and baskets of yarn and needles. She was sure there was more and that, if there was an interest, Professor Flitwick would provide even more stations for them to learn new things at.

Clapping his hands at how lucky it was to have even numbers of boys and girls, Flitwick asked if they'd like to choose their roommates or have them assigned, after a few shared looks, Michael told him they would choose for themselves. Nodding in agreement, their new head of house directed them to the first floor, where all of their trunks were in the center of the common area, and indicated the four rooms that were ready. There were eight rooms on this level, so an empty room sat between each bedroom. Flitwick told them boys and girls were not permitted to bunk together, but that they could enter each other's rooms - so long as the door remained open and the lights remained on. The magic in the tower would make the doors actually disappear if a boy and a girl were in a bedroom together. Seeing the raised eyebrows, he explained how the other houses segregated their students entirely, but that in Ravenclaw, you were trusted to make wise and intelligent decisions and that the separate common study areas for each year group were more important to the vast majority of students than access to each other's bedrooms. He did ensure they were left with the impression that taking advantage of that rule, at any age and under any circumstance, would bring down grave consequences extremely swiftly and that the magic of the tower would keep anyone from being able to hide their wrongdoing once called out on it.

Anthony and Michael decided to room together, so Terry and Draco shrugged and dragged their things next to each other. Similarly, Tracey and Daphne wanted to be roommates, having been friendly since they were very young, leaving Hermione and Padma quite amicably agreeing that they were fine being roommates with each other. Once the rooms were chosen and they were all unpacking, Padma admitted that she didn't really know anyone here, so it wasn't personal that she was completely indifferent to being Hermione's roommate, she just didn't really mind who she ended up with. Hermione laughed and pointed out that Draco was the only person she had known in her whole house before today, and rooming with him wasn't an option, so she was just very glad her roommate didn't feel stuck with her.

Apparently it was the right thing to say, and the two hit it off immediately, chatting while they changed into their pajamas, combed out their hair, and brushed their teeth. Padma's sister Parvati was incredibly outgoing and vivacious, leaving her quieter, bookish twin in the background. Consequently, Padma never really had friends of her own and wasn't really close to Parvati. Hermione explained how being so enthusiastic about her studies, her appearance, and how strange things seemed to happen around her had ostracized her from her peers and also hadn't had friends until she had a sponsor family in the wizarding world. Even then, it was mostly boys. She cared deeply for all her friends, especially the twins and Draco, who she had just clicked with immediately, and Harry, who had stopped Ron from picking on her the first time she had met him and had since taken on a big brother type of role for her, despite being almost a whole year younger. But despite all that, and Molly Weasley's best efforts to make her only daughter Hermione's best friend and vice versa, Hermione was pleased to meet a girl her age that had so many similar interests and experiences, despite how different their lives had been.

Ravenclaw, Hermione decided as she dozed off, had been a very good decision.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

The first month of Hogwarts sped by for Hermione. She and Padma became fast friends and Draco had become her closest confidant. While fully explaining her theorizing at the welcoming feast to Draco while lounging on his bed sharing a box of sweets his mother had sent him, they had gained the interest and assistance of his roommate Terry in her research on the nature of magic as a form of energy and the way it linked magical people. They didn't have a definite goal yet, the idea was far too broad, but figured they had seven years at Hogwarts to figure out what exactly they wanted to focus on with it and they could all take different aspects later if they so chose.

Padma was intrigued by the idea when Hermione related it to her later that night while they were getting ready for bed. So much so that she immediately signed on to help and then floated the idea to the rest of their year group while waiting for their transfiguration lesson to start the next morning. Soon, Hermione was approached by Percy Weasley, who had heard about their project from his fellow prefect Penelope Clearwater, and he had joined in on the research an offhand comment he had made the previous summer had started. From there, Ravenclaws from other year groups, and a handful of Hufflepuffs from their year joined as well, led by Neville, who heard about it and wondered if the same ideas and theories held true for magical plants and animals and maybe between all magical living things. Neville's pondering brought in a few more curious people, including Harry with his roommate Dean Thomas, who was muggleborn and had been looking for an in, being as naturally curious about the nature of magic as Hermione.

Hermione quickly figured out that Harry was in it more for homework help and to just spend time with her and ended up stretching herself a bit thin trying to keep ahead of her classes, put extra effort into her homework, spearhead her research group project, and still spend time with her friends in other houses. After asking Professor Flitwick, Hermione was surprised to learn that it wasn't a requirement to sit at your own house table for meals aside from feasts because she hadn't yet witnessed anyone sitting at a table that didn't match their robes. After that information got out during the first lunch she spent sitting at Gryffindor with the Weasley twins, every house but Slytherin seemed to be sitting wherever they felt like every meal. Even then, a few Slytherins would sometimes venture out to other tables to spend time with friends, family members, or classmates they were doing a project with.

At lunch on Halloween, Hermione was sitting in what was her normal seat when she sat with the Gryffindors next to Fred. Being Halloween, the conversation heavily featured the feast and everyone's favorite sweets. Hermione and Fred spent a good five minutes arguing over the virtues of jelly slugs, his favorite, versus jelly babies, her favorite muggle sweet, mostly because it was one of the only ones she had ever tried. She had been given a pack at school one Halloween and ate them on her way home, hiding the wrapper in the bin when her parents weren't looking, knowing they wouldn't approve. They found the wrapper and, unsurprisingly, didn't approve. Sweets were bad for your teeth. Particularly jellies, that would stick between your teeth terribly and cause decay.

Ron had actually started teasing her from where he was sitting with Harry and Neville for spending so much of her time at the Gryffindor table with the twins, interrupting her and Fred's argument. There had been laughter and teasing from all over the table afterwards around where she was sitting between Fred and Katie Bell, almost making her wish she had decided to eat with Draco and his cousin Dora at the Hufflepuff table or even joined Padma and Michael at the Ravenclaw table. Hogwarts may have helped her grow much stronger, but she was still a little raw when it came to teasing from the years of bullying she had faced at home. She wasn't sure why she spent so much time with the twins, it just seemed to be where she fit in best. Fred and George themselves had teased her a few weeks earlier about how easily she had fallen into stride with them, but it was different coming from them. They teased everyone _all_ the time. And it hadn't had any tones of jealousy or meanness. George had continued to say that he was as surprised as anyone, Fred agreeing that it just felt natural that she should be there with them, teasing further that she should note it in her research.

Despite her flaming cheeks, Hermione had done well tolerating the teasing for most of the meal. Fred, George, Harry, and even Lee's quick comebacks at anything thrown towards her helping her calm herself down and convince herself that Ron hadn't meant it as a personal attack. In fact, she should try to spend some more time with him doing something other than homework and studying in the next couple days - she was referred to his family because the two of them were the same age, after all. It was assumed _he_ would be the Weasley she would be close friends with, if not his sister. She had been neglecting their friendship for his brothers and Ron acted out when frustrated, everyone picked up on that quickly.

She had almost gotten herself together and had even started making her own comebacks when Katie had come out with something truly mean spirited about how she was a boring little swot who should feel lucky that guys like the twins even looked in her direction. Hermione had frozen at that. Katie wasn't her favorite Gryffindor, but she hadn't harbored any ill will or bad feeling towards the girl and hadn't been aware she had felt that way about her. She turned to her, hoping to see the joke in her expression so she could force a laugh and try to move on, but saw the seriousness in the girl's eyes. She opened her mouth, completely unsure of what she meant to say, when Katie followed it up with a quip about her bushy hair throwing in a few more comments about not being pretty enough for their attention before the blood started pounding in Hermione's ears, leaving only a few words like ugly and buck teeth to filter through. Unable to handle being there any more, Hermione said nothing and looked to no one as she hurriedly grabbed her bag and ran from the hall aimlessly. She had eventually taken refuge in the girls lavatory in the charms corridor, barely able to breathe through her tears after all the running she had done, and locked herself in a stall to cry out all the pain she thought she had left behind and forgotten.

Everyone had been so nice here. Everything was working out so well. She had friends, real friends who cared about _her_ and not just how much she could help them on their homework. And she got to see them every day. It had only been two months, but Hermione had let her rose-colored glasses let her believe that she wouldn't be exposed to the same painful bullying she had before she had come here. It was the way her perspective of Hogwarts shattered and the realization of how naive she had willingly let herself be that kept her in the stall, crying even after the afternoon classes had started.

It was Padma who had found her during that first class. She had just happened to need to use the toilet during their charms class and heard Hermione sniffling there. Despite her pleading and telling Hermione how Draco had run after her as soon as he saw her leaving without knowing which way she had gone, assuring her that her Gryffindor friends had told Katie what was what and that Fred had tried to stop her from leaving, even chasing after her once making sure Katie heard what he thought about her words, Hermione refused to leave the stall. Sighing heavily, she made sure to stop on her way out of class and let Professor Flitwick know where Hermione was and even took the time to try and get her out of the stall again before rushing off to transfiguration - which she couldn't be late for. Hermione was grateful for the effort, but wasn't ready to see people. She knew she was overreacting and perhaps that made the idea of facing everyone again even worse, but she simply didn't feel like trying to calm herself down or face things rationally for once in her life.

A few minutes into the second afternoon class, she heard the door to the lavatory slam open. She tried to muffle her sniffles, hide her feet, and peek out through the thin gap in the door to see who it was all at once. Having to become instantly invisible after being caught unaware was not her strong suit, it seemed.

"Your bag's still on the floor, Hermione. And I heard you sniffling when I came in. Are you going to put on the big girl pants and come out and tell me what's wrong or are you going to sit and cry like a toddler?" Fred asked after the door slammed shut again.

"I don't want to. Go away, you aren't supposed to be here," she squeaked back, her earlier humiliation flooding back full force. Of all the people she couldn't face right now, the Weasley twins were at the top of the list and Fred Weasley was the top of that list. She should have gone with Padma - surely Professor Flitwick would excuse two missed classes if she had gone and hidden in the common room until he had been back in his office. Any upper year Ravenclaws would've minded their own business, except for maybe Cho and her gang, but they would've been in class anyway. And then she wouldn't have to face Fred. Not right now at least. It would've been inevitable either way, but even as she told him to go away, she knew he wouldn't.

"Don't make me open the door for you, Hermione - you know I will. It's your choice how you come out of that stall, but it _is_ happening," he assured her, enough steel in his voice to give her an odd sensation of deja vu that she definitely didn't like.

"I won't have you laughing at me," she argued back, trying to hold on to what dignity she had left before she had to face him and lose it all again.

"Why would I be laughing at…? Seriously? _That's_ what this is all about? Padma and Draco are worried sick and Georgie, Lee, and I are going to end up with detention for skipping potions to figure out which bathroom you were hiding in so we could drag you out again. And that doesn't take into account any detentions those dolts are going to get once they get caught in various girls lavatories!" he exclaimed, sounding a bit exasperated. "You can't seriously be upset over what that cow said! Utter rubbish, that's all...would you come out already? I feel like a complete prat talking to a toilet door."

"Which part?" she asked, opening the door and taking a step out of the stall after a long moment of a silent standoff.

"What?"

"Which part of what she said was rubbish?" Hermione asked again, a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach she couldn't define.

Sure, she hadn't seriously been trying to make a move on either Weasley twin like Katie had obviously been insinuating. She _was_ just barely twelve after all and wasn't even entirely sure what it was she was supposed to feel to make a move or what those moves were. But that sinking feeling told her she might not want Fred to think she did, but she didn't really want him to think the idea was rubbish. And she definitely didn't want him to think she was ugly. Hermione wasn't vain by any stretch, but if there was anyone she didn't want to think she was some boring, ugly, bushy haired, buck toothed swot, it was Fred.

Why couldn't it have been George or Lee to find her? Why didn't she just go with Padma? She lamented as he studied her anxious face while deciding on his answer. Her luck was just awful today. Of _course_ it was Fred. It _had_ to be Fred. She was too young and too confused to understand it, but there was something different with Fred. It wasn't the same as it was with George or Harry or Terry or even Draco. She loved all of her friends, but she was drawn to him somehow for some reason she didn't understand. She didn't even feel the same pull to his identical twin, who most people thought didn't even have his own separate personality.

"You know what? Forget it, I'm overreacting and I know it. I've known it for about an hour and a half, if I'm honest. I need to get to Professor Flitwick's office. I'll let him know what happened, apologize, and see what consequences there are. Maybe Draco will let me look over his notes. I'll see if he can talk to Slughorn for you - it's not fair that you'll all get in trouble when I was the one being stupid. In fact, I'll go to McGonagall's office first and talk to her before she punishes you. She is your head of house, after all, and I'm missing her class right now," Hermione straightened her back and picked up her bag, hurrying to the door while angrily brushing away her last few stubborn tears.

"Whoa! Stop right there!" Fred caught her elbow and swung her around to face him as she tried to push past. "You _do not_ want to go to McGonagall for us, trust me. We, uh, may not have used this time solely in pursuit of you."

"Do I want to know?"

"Do you want any responsibility for it?" he grinned a bit at the immediate shaking of her head. "Smart girl. Then no, you don't want to know what else we were doing. I, however, don't think that being teased because of an extremely inevitable and logical crush is what's kept you crying in the bathroom for hours."

"Inevitable and logical?" Hermione questioned warily.

"Of course. I mean, we _are_ the Weasley twins. Prime real estate, we are. I'd be concerned for your sanity if you didn't end up fancying at least one of us. Though, I'm a bit miffed it seems you haven't noticed who the more attractive twin is," he told her, casually checking and buffing his fingernails on his shirt.

"The more attractive _identical_ twin?" she intoned, trying to force herself to go along with the joke even as the sinking feeling in her stomach dropped to her feet. He was making whatever it was she felt for him a joke. Like everything else. Like with _everyone_ else.

"Of course. We're not one person, you know," he teased, grinning at her with a twinkle in his eye before he caught her expression. "It's really got you that upset? She was trying to run you off and you shouldn't give her the satisfaction. The daft cow's been making eyes at the both of us for over a year. It got worse when she made the team. She can't tell us apart and doesn't care which one of us she snags - we've tested the theory. It's just her paranoia cropping up, Mya. She sees how close we all are, how close you and _I_ are, and gets jealous. It doesn't matter that she and I are thirteen and you're just barely twelve. And neither George nor myself have any interest in being more than her teammate. For some reason she thinks she's fated to be with one of us and gets possessive."

"How close you and I are?"

Fred grinned a little at that. "You know you and I are closer than you and George. You know it, I know it, George knows it. It's alright, I mean, I was serious when I mentioned we were two different people. Very alike, granted, but not entirely identical. Lee actually gets on better with George than me. Doesn't show it too much, but I've got the feeling if I weren't his other half - in a totally normal and platonic way, of course - Lee would be."

"Totally normal and platonic, of course," Hermione shook her head slightly. Why had she gotten so worked up? She really was far too close to the edge _all the time_ now. Maybe she was stretching herself _too_ thin. And then there's the issue with...she abruptly looked up at Fred. "She really doesn't care which of you she convinces to date her?" Hermione scrunched up her nose at that, slightly disgusted.

"No. We've both talked to her as Fred and both of us talked to her as George. She treats us the same regardless of which twin is talking with which name. George switched up which twin he was halfway through the conversation once. Didn't phase her," he shook his head incredulously at it. "I'd tell her neither of us are Prewett heirs, but she's muggleborn and wouldn't know there's a fortune to be had anyway."

"That's revolting," she shook the thought of being that desperate for an _idea_ of someone off. "So I shouldn't take anything she said seriously?"

"Obviously. I mean, I suppose she was truthful when she pointed out your hair's kinda bushy, but it suits you, so I wouldn't worry on it. And, when left to your own devices, you tend to have a certain swot-ish way about you, but that's why you've got people like me and Draco and Harry to keep you from getting tunnel vision and make sure you don't lose your sense of humor. And I wouldn't call you boring - we have all kinds of fun when you stop studying long enough to hang out. Laugh plenty. Plan pranks. I won't forget you helping us with that last one," he teased.

"Don't forget the buck teeth. The kids at my last school didn't," she muttered, remembering the old insults being made again and missing Fred's expression of enlightenment.

"Didn't say I did. I can see why, too," he teased, smiling as she looked up at him with betrayal written clearly on her face. "You wouldn't know it while you're crying, but you've got one of my favorite smiles ever."

"Because I have buck teeth," she deadpanned, no longer looked betrayed, but definitely not buying it.

"What, you want the same boring teeth as everyone else? That means you'd have the same boring smile as everyone else. Now see here, this is insider info: one of the very few minute differences between George and I is our front teeth. His are straight. My left one overlaps my right one just the littlest bit, see?" he asked, baring his front teeth at her. She nodded, stifling the instinctual giggle at the expression on his face as he bared his teeth.

"That's why I'm the more attractive twin. I've got a special smile. Poor George has a boring one like everyone else."

"Is that why?" she found herself smiling despite herself.

"Well, that's one of the reasons. I gave you that one for a smile, but you're going to have to figure out the rest on your own," he told her as he started leading them out into the corridor. Classes would be ending soon and he didn't want to get caught in the girl's lavatory.

"How did you know where to find me?" she asked as students started filling the hall.

"Padma said you locked yourself in the lavatory."

"There's about a hundred girls lavatories in Hogwarts. You just happened to pick the one I was in first while George and Lee just spent the past hour or so wandering random lavatories?"

"George was the one who suggested we split up. I offered to start here."

"That lucky?"

"Did I mention I was also the smarter twin and that Padma mentioned she'd be there with you but she didn't dare skip on McGonagall? Points to that, by the way. Cutting McGonagall's class takes guts. Besides, she's in your house and year, so I knew she had charms. Only one lavatory in this corridor."

"You knew what class I had?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Well, based on where Padma was coming from and where she was going, I _could_ have guessed," he pointed out. "But I suppose I already gave that away. Yeah, I know when and where you have class. It happens when one of your best friends is always too busy studying or researching to spend time with you. You figure out where you can ambush them before they get to the library."

"And you didn't tell George," she finally stated more than asked after a moment of staring up at him. Her mouth was dry. She didn't know why she was so speechless over it, why her mouth was so dry, why her stomach flipped...what the look he was giving her indicated. So she shoved the words out, trying to figure out what action she wanted to take. Fred relaxed, looking away. She still didn't know what action she had really wanted, but that wasn't it.

"Georgie never asked," he told her with a wink and a shrug, walking directly into another student. "Oi! Sorry 'bout that, Diggory, didn't see you there. Our Hermione here's got me all kinds of distracted, but you're just the bloke I wanted to see. Or thereabouts. The lovely Hermione needs to get to Flitwick's office and was hoping not to attract too much attention. Mind's all a-wandering after some time with me, you know, completely natural reaction. Think you could help us out?" he asked, pausing long enough for Cedric to chuckle and nod, cutting him off again as soon as the boy opened his mouth to speak. "Right then, all sorted and in the capable hands of a trustworthy upper classmen. Picked the best looking one I could find for you too, and yes, you are very welcome. See you at the feast!"

Hermione watched him go for a moment, he seemed to be ranting a bit to himself, probably about George and Lee, a silly grin sliding onto her face. She shook herself out of it and headed to Professor Flitwick's office with Cedric at her side. He asked only once if she was ok, to which she told him she would be but didn't want to talk about it. Instantly accepting that, he nodded, introduced himself properly, and asked about her research project. Turns out it piqued his interest as well, but he had felt awkward asking a first year Ravenclaw he had never met about her theoretical studies. He asked all sorts of good questions and brought up some interesting points, ignoring the fact her face was still slightly splotchy and her eyes red and puffy. Between his obvious interest, intellect, and immediate kindness, Hermione told him the next time they'd be working in the library and invited him to join.

She explained the situation as calmly and rationally as she could to her head of house, apologizing profusely for missing class and being so immature and offering to make up all the work by Monday morning. Professor Flitwick waved off her concern, telling her if she made up the work and did the homework, no one would have any reason to complain about the top student in her year missing a couple classes because she was so stressed out. He spent the next half an hour talking things over with Hermione, asking about her previous school experience, lending a sympathetic ear, and reassuring her that a lot of first years have a moment where they break, and that it was ok. What mattered is that she defined the trigger, rendered it useless in the future, and bounce back. He suggested she may want to slow down a bit on her personal research, maybe do a draft or two fewer of her impeccable, but needlessly detailed essays - generally stop trying to do so much all at once, give herself a few hours here and there to relax and reinvigorate herself. He reminded her that the common room was set up to encourage just that because even the most intelligent person in the world will lose their edge and brilliance with too much stress. She thanked him heartily for his support and advice, promising to take it to heart as well as finishing the work she missed.

When she got to the common room, Draco offered her his notes from charms and transfiguration, so long as she traded hers from history of magic the day before because he had fallen asleep. Giving him a mockingly disapproving look, she took his notes and fished into her bag for her own from history. That's when she found a small package with a note wrapped around it.

 _You're unfortunately going to miss the trick, but I suppose you can get a treat instead._

 _P.S. You owe me the muggle version. You try these, I try them, and THEN the best will be decided._

The note was tied around a small package of jelly slugs. Handing Draco her history notes, Hermione grinned to herself and pocketed the note. When he asked what she was staring at, she held up the package. Eyes lighting up, Draco asked if she'd mind sharing - he had some biscuits from his mother he'd barter for a few jelly slugs. Apparently his mother found slug shaped candy revolting and refused to buy them, making them something incredibly special for someone with a sweet tooth like Draco. She gladly shared, knowing her parents wouldn't approve of the candy, but would be proud she shared a gift she had wanted to keep for herself helped a bit with the guilt eating all the sweets she had been the last two months caused. It was difficult not to with a friend who got bi-weekly packages from home, though.

Padma broke up their studying, teasing about ruining their supper, when it was time to head down to the feast. The whole way down she told them about the rainbow colored rainstorm just inside the door closest to the greenhouses that had started sometime during their last class. Apparently it was really advanced spellwork, but McGonagall and Professor Sprout had been able to clear it up before anyone thought to send for Flitwick, so the charms weren't as strong or complex as they looked. Hermione was shaking her head at her friends' antics until she got to the feast and saw all the second year Gryffindors and Slytherins with random streaks of color down their faces, ears, and necks. Some of them with lighter hair, like the blonde Katie Bell, had multicolored streaks and splotches staining their hair as well.

"The rain wasn't water, I take it," Draco noted as they head towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Apparently not. Parvati was telling me that it seemed to be water at first, but the more they tried to dry or wash it off, the brighter it got. She said the shrieking from the second year girls dormitory almost broke all the windows in the tower," Padma informed him with a chuckle.

"So the storm itself wasn't the focus. That's why it was so easy to dismantle," Hermione noted, laughing with her friends.

"Looks like Katie Bell tried _really_ hard to get the color off," Draco pointed out, nudging Hermione with a huge grin Padma duplicated.

"It's awful she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Padma agreed. "Pity, really."

"Yeah. Pity," Hermione echoed, looking past Katie's sulking form to the twins and Lee. George gave something like a bow from his seat while Lee flashed a hugely proud smile when they saw her look over. She smiled right back, even making sure it was big enough to show her teeth when she made eye contact with Fred, who returned her toothy grin while pretending to doff his non-existent hat to her.

"They sure came up with that quick," Draco mused as they took their seats.

"Pretty sure that one's been in the works for a while. Lee asked some strange questions about clouds a couple weeks ago and just last week George was asking me what color clashed the most with green and silver. The events at lunch probably just helped them choose their location," Hermione informed him.

"No questions from Fred, then?" Padma teased lightly, Hermione shaking her head at how nothing got past that girl.

"He tends to be more direct when asking for help thinking through or finding something. As in, he tells me what he's trying to do and where he's running into a block, but usually keeps it to an extremely specific detail so that I have no idea what he's planning and thus have plausible deniability. Usually," she explained, getting laughs from all the first year Ravenclaws, who had helped the Weasley twins pull off a prank on the Slytherins a few weeks ago.

While getting changed for bed, she pulled the note out of her pocket, smiling at it once more, before sticking it in her planner. The best part was it hadn't been a last ditch effort to cheer her up from the lunch incident. The rain covered that. He had probably slipped those in her bag at lunch before she ran from the hall so she would discover them in transfiguration. She was still thinking about the gift, how funny it was she knew his handwriting from George's, and the smile and wink she had gotten in passing this afternoon as she drifted off to sleep and that's when it happened.

She only caught glimpses and flashes of things over and over. A sick toddler and green, so much green. A muggle hospital, IV's and cameras. Blood and dragons. The city of the merpeople in the black lake. A hedge maze. A desolate building on a small island crumbling into an angry sea. Breaking wood. Trees and snow. More green, brighter, more sinister this time. An explosion, a stern-looking woman not blinking, not breathing. Half moon spectacles. An angry screeching and crashing. Broken glass. Police sirens, flashing lights. She felt herself screaming as the images started through again for what seemed the millionth time, her heart wrenched in the worst agony she had ever felt, when everything went black and a voice spoke.

 _One from the Boy Who Lives,_

 _one who should have gone._

 _One from the dragon's cave_

 _now will be brought home._

 _One must lose the cup,_

 _but won't be all that is lost._

 _Others learn the way of the dog,_

 _and will come at dreaded cost._

 _The chessmaster takes another,_

 _as those long idle would._

 _Both will pay the price_

 _for the greater good._

 _One last crash of fate,_

 _a sacrifice most dear,_

 _will be the same either way,_

 _for some_ _ **cannot**_ _remain here._

 _A choice must be made. Not all left living were truly meant here._

 _ **A choice must be made.**_


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

A couple weeks after Halloween Hermione was meandering her way towards the library when she found Harry wandering on his own. Apparently Ron was challenging everyone in Gryffindor Tower to a chess match and he just didn't feel like losing another himself or watching everyone else lose...again. Having kept her conversation with Professor Flitwick in mind and knowing she was already a good two weeks ahead on homework, Hermione decided to forgo her personal studies to wander the frozen grounds with her friend.

"Have you made more friends in Gryffindor than Ron?" Hermione asked as they settled down in the quidditch stands, suddenly feeling the two and a half month separation from her bespectacled friend strongly.

"Not really. I probably should for days like today. I mean, I'm friendly enough with the twins and Lee and get on pretty well with my roommates, but it's really just me and Ron most of the time," he admitted, shuffling his feet a bit. "Not like you. No one saw that one coming, by the way. We all thought you'd just be buried in books when you got sorted into Ravenclaw. Ron reckoned you wouldn't even know your roommate's name until Christmas break."

Hermione laughed with him at that. "It was a bit surprising, wasn't it? Finding friends before was so difficult, but here? I _did_ almost forget to introduce myself that first night, but Draco called me out on it and no one took it personally, especially once they got to know me. Being a bit overwhelmed the first night, especially as a muggleborn, was only to be expected. Logical, really. It helps that I'm surrounded by mostly like-minded people. Even those in my house I don't particularly get along with get me on some level. It's refreshing. Means I don't have to try and be the queen swot of the swottiest swots in Hogwarts, as Draco phrased it."

"That's a mouthful," Harry laughed with her. "I get it, though. Sometimes I almost wish I were smart enough to have been put in Ravenclaw with you guys. Things seem easy for you."

"They seem that way, don't they?" she sighed. "I'm working myself too hard, honestly. Instead of putting too much into just homework, I'm also putting too much into a personal project as well and still trying to spend loads of 'free time' with my friends. But it's been forever since we've just sat and talked, or done anything but homework or study with each other, so I'm not even doing that well at that. I...I had a bit of a breakdown on Halloween."

"I heard a few whispers about you locked up in a lavatory, but they got overtaken pretty quick by the rainstorm," he noted, chuckling. "Katie Bell's still trying to get the last few bits of color out of her hair. She got hit pretty hard. It started right as she entered the castle, apparently, and people were stopped in front of her so she couldn't get out from under the clouds for a bit."

"Pity. She seemed so proud of her appearance," Hermione quipped, smirking more to herself than Harry.

"Yeah, she's using it as an excuse to harass the twins more than usual. Thinks they've got the cure or something. Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt for a second that they were behind it or that they made sure she got hit the hardest. No one who saw either of the twins' faces after her little stint at lunch that day does. Especially Fred. He was _enraged_. I swear his face was actually redder than his hair," he shook his head with a wry chuckle. "Point is, I just don't think they bothered coming up with a way to undo the damage. Even if they did, they wouldn't share that information with her."

"Probably not," Hermione agreed, smiling a bit. "I was, you know, locked up in a lavatory. Crying my eyes out through a whole class. Just like old times, I guess."

"What got you out? I saw you at the feast laughing and having fun with Draco and Padma. I thought people had been exaggerating. Wouldn't be the first time Lavender or Parvati had made things up."

"Fred came and found me during the second class I missed. He said Lee and George were also searching for me. Called me out on my childish behavior and then cheered me up. Told me not to mention seeing him when I went to McGonagall to get my missed work and even passed me off on another student to take me to Flitwick. Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff. Have you met him? He's very friendly and quite intelligent. Joined our project for the fun of it instead of homework help," she teased lightly, grinning when his cheeks turned pink.

"He's their new seeker, yeah?" Harry nodded when she did. "Haven't met him personally, but he seems nice enough. You sure everything ended ok? You and Fred laughing and smiling?"

"Of course. I just admitted to spending an entire afternoon crying in a bathroom like a child because some petty girl said a couple mean things I've heard a million times before. Why would I lie about that?"

"No reason. Wondered what happened between then and the common room is all. George and Lee were walking on air they were so pleased with themselves and then Fred comes in all irritated and grouchy. Well, until he saw Katie at least. They all smiled pretty big at that. But his was almost...feral. She'll leave them both alone if she knows what's good for them. They keep eyeing her up like prey every time she goes near them," he shook his head again. "Promise you're ok? For real, I mean, not just trying to sound brave. I'm not your parents. I won't talk about making you change schools."

"Heh...no, I'm fine, Harry. Like you pointed out earlier, I've got all kinds of friends now. I just got a bit too stressed out and need to pace myself. I've got seven years here and the rest of my life for obscure research. No need to have a thesis by Christmas my first year," she reassured him. "I never did thank you for last year, did I?"

"It's my mum you've got to thank. I would've just stuck it out for another year in that awful school to make her happy. Going to a muggle school before Hogwarts was important to her. Not her fault I didn't make friends. It's hard when you're different. Especially when you know how and why and that you can't speak a word of it," he shrugged. "You helped me, really. I wasn't getting bullied like you were, but I was just as lonely and still got picked on a bit. It was nice having a friend that last year. If she hadn't started that program and then had we not gotten along so well summer before last, it wouldn't have occurred to her to send me to a muggle school with another magical kid."

"It was nice having _you_ as a friend that last year, Harry," Hermione stressed, giving his hand a squeeze. "I never even had a sibling. It was so _amazing_ to have a friend to share school with. To discuss homework and book reports and stupid stories about what happened in the cafeteria. I never had that. And my mum expects you to visit sometime during the holidays, you know."

"Wouldn't miss it," Harry assured her, smiling back. "We should do this more, you know."

"We're not doing anything, Harry."

"Exactly. We're both the kind of people who _do_ things. But it's nice to take some time to just...be, I guess. Am I making any sense?"

"A whole lot more than it sounds like you are," she laughed at him. "I know I've been spending most of my time with Draco and Padma or the twins, but you're always welcome to join us, you know."

"I might every once in awhile. But Ron gets...almost jealous when I hang out with other people and the two of you don't always get on so well…"

"And that's only going to be worse if you're spending time with his more popular older brothers. Got it," she sighed. "Well, whenever you get or need a break from him, find me. I'll even try to play nice if you want to bring him along."

"I will," Harry agreed, smiling back.


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

By the time school let out for Christmas, Hermione had entirely forgotten her strange dream on Halloween, but not her discussion with Professor Flitwick or Harry. She was still top in her year and top in charms, transfiguration, astronomy, and history of magic. Oddly, three of the top four students in astronomy were muggleborn and Harry was third in the class. Early wizarding education doesn't lend much time to maths, it seems. Though she dropped from number one in potions and herbology and had always been runner up to Harry in defense against the dark arts, she remained in the top five, leaving her first in the year. Her essays were now only slightly longer than the assigned list and she only did one rough draft - two if she found something new last minute when studying with her classmates or found she had ended up rambling at one point or another - but two drafts were the absolute most she allowed for her own sanity.

It was also, in a way, relieving to cut down on her own personal studies. The large group who had been so interested in the beginning had cut down bit by bit the further into the year it got. Most of them were interested until it meant more research after they were done their homework or having some actual free time. Terry and Padma were actually two of the first to drop out. They still worked with her, but each with their own personal research. They both liked the idea of having a seven year project that would make them look better to prospective employers or even help them discover and publish something new by the time they graduated, but soon decided they wanted to find something that suited their own personal interests better. At this point, Draco was working with both her and Dean.

She was focused on the effect magic had on magical people and the way it drew them together, pushed them apart, and decided how they would interact with their surroundings. Dean was caught by the idea of magic as an energy source. It was still too early for him to decide, but he theorized that, if he could find a way to harness or harvest it, it would be a completely green and free energy source, thus making muggle technology work on magic. Draco was fascinated by this, especially the parts where he learned about muggle technology, of which he had very little knowledge or contact. He still helped Hermione when she needed a sounding board or a second set of eyes, but his focus was clearly on Dean's project.

For his part, Dean welcomed Draco's help, ignoring some strange looks and less than polite comments about the likelihood of Draco being willing to work as equals with a muggleborn. Bolstered by the Gryffindor's dismissal of popular opinion (because the Malfoy name was still looked at warily outside of Ravenclaw), Draco made quite the effort to become friends with the other boy, even learning about and how to play football and sharing his knowledge of quidditch. They exchanged similar parts of the two different worlds like chocolate frog cards, each learning more every time they saw each other. For her part, Hermione was surprised and pleased at the dedication the Gryffindor showed towards studies and research that had no effect on his grade. It was only expected of a Ravenclaw, most students had some personal interest they pursued for at least their own curiosity's sake, some to the point of experiments and/or submitting papers to the Ministry and the appropriate media outlets. A Gryffindor doing such, especially as a first year, was practically unheard of.

Neville had held out on the project, but was now completely focused on the magical plants aspect and getting extra credit for his work from Professor Sprout. Not that he needed it - Neville had blown everyone else in their year away in herbology. Even Hermione's almost perfect grade looked distant to his. Cedric may have come in later than the others, even after several people had lost interest, but stuck with it like a true Hufflepuff. He worked mostly with Neville, deciding if the younger boy was looking at magical plants, he would look at magical creatures. He wasn't certain how long he'd keep with it, but his father worked the ministry regarding magical creatures and he found it interesting to look at things he heard about at home from a different perspective. Plus, he had an affinity for animals, magic and not alike, and knew that if he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps in the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, he'd need something under his belt to avoid accusations of nepotism. Draco and Neville had both laughed at that, claiming most senior positions were filled just that way, but congratulated Cedric on wanting to do things on his own merit.

Hermione kept her research days down to two a week. More specifically, the two a week the Gryffindor quidditch team practiced. Not only did it help pace her, but it left enough free time that she wasn't killing herself if she put in a third day after finding something particularly interesting and she had been able to spend plenty of time with her friends. Fred and George were always kidnapping her from one place or another despite her protests that she was making time for them anyway and the fact that it never conflicted with her homework or personal study time. When she mentioned that fact, George had just agreed with Fred when he quipped how funny it was things sometimes happened like that with smirks that told her it was definitely not chance.

The few weeks after her talk with Harry were a challenge of trying to find time for the two of them to hang out without upsetting Ron or forcing him to try and play nice with Hermione. She had no clue why, but neither of them had an easy time getting on with one another. The longer they were near each other, the more likely bickering and all out arguments were. It shocked Hermione a bit because the twins were two of her very best friends and she had had no problems getting along with Percy or Ginny, though she and Ginny had such different interests they tended to bore one another, they still got along just fine. So, it was a bit difficult, but they found at least a little time for each other every few days even if it was just catching up at breakfast or sharing some treacle tart after supper. (Which Harry adored and more often than not ate half of Hermione's portion as well while she elaborated on something or another.)

Then it happened. Harry had gotten a letter from home that upset him greatly. Even Hermione didn't know what had happened, he wouldn't talk about it, but he was irritable and moody from the moment he read it. Trying to cheer him up, Ron talked him into sneaking the twins' brooms from the broom shed and having a go on the quidditch pitch after supper one night. When all was said and done, they spent several hours whizzing around the pitch, caution steadily decreasing along with their body temperature, until they were caught on stolen brooms after curfew with an immediate need for the hospital wing. Hagrid heard Ron's scream from his hut when he fell off the broom trying to pull off some fancy move or another, snapping his wrist on the frozen ground. After rushing them both to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had found the beginnings of frostbite on Harry's ears from flying in the subzero winds for too long without his hat.

Anyone who had thought McGonagall had been angry hadn't seen Fred and George yet. The fact that the two boys had lost 200 points from Gryffindor in one night while stealing the twins' brooms and then ended up in the hospital wing on top of that had made the twins quiet. And angry. It was generally something to be feared when they got too quiet, but now they were angry on top of that, leading Harry to plead with Hermione one morning at breakfast to talk to them and see if they'd let him beg for mercy. Hermione had been amused, but it was apparently the right thing to do because the twins were also amused by his pleas to Hermione and even more amused by his pleas to _them_ , once allowed. He would still be pranked, even Harry knew that, but had managed to avoid the hell coming Ron's way once they decided on something that would be punishment enough for their twisted sense of justice.

The other surprise from that was the falling out of Harry and Ron. Hermione and Draco privately mused how long Ron would hold out shutting Harry out the way he had been, both assuming less than a week, until the other rumor started. Harry was going to start the new year as the Gryffindor seeker. The team's current seeker had been begging Oliver Wood to find a replacement - it was his N.E.W.T. year and he didn't have the time to dedicate himself to quidditch like he had in the past. No one knew how or why Harry had gotten the place on the team, once his detentions were over at least, but it had happened. Ron didn't seem to notice that Harry was being punished the same as him, only that he had gotten on the team, youngest player in a century, and Ron had not.

Since then, Harry had become a fixture at Hermione's side during meals, joining her at whichever table she sat at, and enduring the endless teasing of the twins during their downtime. He hadn't been so far ahead on his homework or had such good grades since his last year of muggle schooling, which had also been by Hermione's side. His mother was going to be so pleased with him when she saw his marks - he was even first in defense. His father would be pleased to hear he was now a collaborator of sorts with the infamous Weasley twins. Part of his punishment was being their gopher. Not that he particularly had an issue with it, it wasn't like they told him to do something and then ignored him and shut him out until the next time they needed him. In fact, they had figuratively (and occasionally literally) opened their arms to his presence, Hermione counting him as a close friend being all the assurance they needed.

Truthfully, Harry felt a bit like a fifth wheel with them, Lee, and Hermione, but it wasn't anyone trying to push him away or being unhappy with his presence. He was just quite literally the fifth person in an already established group and so he accepted things as they were, wondering if they may have been a little different had he branched out more the first few weeks he was in school instead of sticking to Ron's side like glue. On one of the occasions Draco had joined them, he had assured Harry that no amount of the school year would have made him feel less like a fifth wheel with the group. The blonde Ravenclaw spent almost every class at her side, time doing their homework every day, at least half the meals of the week, and occasionally some free time after curfew in Ravenclaw Tower with Hermione and still felt like a fifth wheel once the twins and Lee were involved. Like Harry, he accepted it rather than resenting it, but neither denied how much nicer being a fifth wheel was when there was a sixth there too.

The more time he spent with them, the more he realized George and Lee had a rapport George didn't even have with his own twin. That had shocked Harry, who thought they were a match set and pretty much the same person, like most people did. To see that, albeit quietly and subtly, George and Lee had a much closer friendship than Fred and Lee did, whereas Fred and Hermione were closer than George and Hermione were was jarring. Fred and George were still a team and could tell you what the other was thinking about 99.99999% of the time (in George's words), but Harry found it strange to realize that they really were individuals and friends with different people different ways. Of course, upon reflection it was even stranger that he hadn't realized that before. They were, after all, two people, and he actually found himself apologizing to them a week before Christmas for having never properly seen that before, expecting to be laughed at. Instead, both twins just smiled at him a bit sadly and clapped him on the back, assuring him that it wouldn't cut down on the pranking he had earned for stealing from them even as they thanked him.

Hermione was terribly sad and extremely excited to go home for the holidays all at once. She missed her parents something terrible and loved the quiet Christmases they spent together, but she had friends now. Hermione had never had friends to miss during school breaks until Harry joined her at her muggle school last year. Even then, they spent much of the summer together. That's how he and Ron had become friends - both she and Harry had spent most days last summer at the Burrow before flooing home for supper. But now she had several friends and loads of friendly acquaintances that she'd miss seeing every day. Harry would be visiting the evening of the twenty seventh until the twenty eighth. The Prewetts were having a large Boxing Day celebration and both Hermione's family and the Potters had been invited. Lily Potter and Hermione's mother had decided that since both Harry and Hermione were going to stay at the Prewett's with the other kids the night and day after the party, Harry would go to Hermione's house with her after. Emma Granger had invited the rest of the Potters over to supper on the twenty eighth, when Lily had been planning on picking up Harry anyway.

She also had New Years to look forward to. The Malfoys had been holding a New Year's gala for close to a century, Draco had told her, and his father's incarceration hadn't been enough to stop the tradition. His mother ran the show now, so there was an entirely different sort that found themselves with invitations, but almost no one who was invited missed it because regardless of their political reputation, the party had a reputation of being the event of the year. From what he told her, the gala got bigger and bigger every year at this point, the guest list expanding further and further.

All the first year Ravenclaws had received invitations for themselves and their families. Narcissa finally deciding to invite the Weasley family had been in the Daily Prophet's gossip column for weeks, but Draco had mentioned the twins and Ron a handful of times in his letters home, maybe even told her when Percy had helped with their personal research, and Narcissa was so determined to make sure Draco kept making his own decisions, and not those of his father, that she invited just about any and everyone he had ever mentioned in a letter and then some. For instance, Draco was friends with Padma Patil, so her whole family, including Parvati, was invited. But Parvati had different friends at school than Draco and Padma, so wouldn't it be nice of her to invite the Browns with their daughter Lavender as well? Draco shook his head wide eyed at every letter that came in, usually at the same time as several more invitations to other students, and mused to Hermione that his mother was going mad in her solitude, wondering how they were supposed to fit so many people in the mansion. The morning Lavender Brown got her invite and filled the Great Hall with her shrill squealing while Draco stared at his note, George had quipped that his mother was doing more for Draco's reputation than the boy himself could ever do. Being friends with Draco, or in some cases even one of his friends, was your ticket to society's biggest event of the year. The twins found it hysterical. Draco was grumpy about it and stuck closer to the people who had befriended him _before_ the gala was an issue.

"So are you going to this thing on New Year's?" Fred asked as the train meandered its way back to London.

"At the Malfoy's?" Hermione asked, glancing up from their game of checkers with a skeptically raised brow before looking back to the board chuckling. "Well, I've decided to go, but my parents are taking advantage of my having plans to have a New Year's Eve date for the first time since I was born."

"That's actually a nice idea. Wonder if I could talk my mum into something like that," Fred mused.

"Don't you dare suggest it. I already had to help my own mother interpret, via owl, how I thought she came off in the society pages for inviting your parents. If they don't show, all I'll hear about is how all her good work has gone to waste," Draco warned, a threat in his eyes that were now glaring at Fred over his book. "Forget that she invited you all because I'm friends with you rather than some social nicety deal she didn't feel she had progressed far enough to attempt. If this falls through now, she'll never stop about it."

"Didn't progress far enough for? You spent half the summer at the Burrow," Lee pointed out from where he had been plotting with George.

"That was kids being kids. This is her, as acting head of a family, inviting an entire family, who has been in a feud with my family for centuries, to our gala," Draco pointed out.

"It's a pretty big deal. Dad's gone a bit nutty over it. Well, nuttier than usual," George agreed, chuckling.

"So why didn't I get an invite?" Lee asked, looking put out.

"You didn't get invited? Keep an eye out for owls. If it's a space issue, she can un-invite that cow Lavender Brown. I'm sure Parvati will be plenty entertained with or without her," Draco grumbled, pulling out a spare bit of parchment to make a note of it.

"Calm down there, mate, I'm just kidding," Lee held his hands up in surrender as he laughed. "My mum's got a shopping trip planned as soon as the train gets to London so I'll be dressed properly. Dad tried to tell her I'd need wizarding formal wear, but she's waved him off insisting she's the one to handle fashion in our family."

"It should be the height of fashion. I'm wearing a muggle tuxedo, actually. Not that I got asked one way or the other. Apparently it's making the right sort of statement," Draco rolled his eyes at that last bit.

"What kind of statement?" Fred asked, smirking as he jumped two of Hermione's pieces in one go.

"Well, Hermione's one of my best friends, right? So my mum assumed we'd be near each other a good part of the ball. Hermione's also muggleborn and will, more likely than not, be wearing muggle formal attire bought by her muggle parents, who my mother has been exchanging owls with and meeting for the occasional coffee this whole term. Between the guest list as a whole and me spending most of the night with a muggleborn - which had _better_ be happening, don't you dare abandon me to those people," he paused to warn Hermione, who chuckled and nodded agreement, "my mother feels that I might just be able to use the name Malfoy in business and society as a whole by the time I graduate Hogwarts."

"Your mum befriended Hermione's parents to look good?" Padma asked with a chuckle.

"Hardly. She befriended the Grangers because she's overly involved in my life and Hermione and I have become very good friends. She thought it was only logical that she get to know my close friends' parents. She's had coffee with all of your parents as well as the Boot's and Goldstein's as well. She has very good intentions, and it definitely started out as her watching out for me, but she's since turned it into expanding her social life. My mum loves a good and busy social calendar, hell, she was raised to appreciate one, and my father's incarceration kind of ruined that aspect of her life. She spent plenty of years with Aunt Andie building our investments and such, hovering over me all overprotective, trying to limit my grandmother's influence on me, so on and so forth. Now, she starts reaching out to people to continue her overprotective thing and realizes it comes with the added benefit of interacting socially with people her own age that she isn't related to. She's loving it. And now that she doesn't have to keep her parents or my father happy, she's _really_ enjoying seeing how life goes for people like Hermione or Anthony's parents," Draco paused to sigh. "Muggle attire was _her_ idea. She's wrapping it up in a political statement, but really she discovered fashion magazines and got a whole new world of designer clothing to explore that she didn't know existed."

"Poor Draco has to wear an expensive designer suit that would put celebrities to shame to make his mum smile. Must be a hardship," Hermione teased, earning some laughs from everyone but Fred.

"Poor Hermione's going to have to find a way to make her parents agree to my mother taking her out to buy an equally ridiculous designer gown," he warned.

"Your mum's buying me a dress?" she asked, confused.

"If my mum has her way, we'll have a shopping day so she can make sure you aren't dressed any less impressively than me. Wouldn't send the right image, I suppose."

"That's ridiculous," Hermione argued.

"That's society," Draco countered. "And my mum always wanted a second child. A girl, more specifically, to dress up and get her hair and nails done with her and all that stupid stuff Dora doesn't have the patience for. One of my best friends happens to be a girl and needs to look as glamorous as her to send the right message, so I'm betting that's her real motivation there. Don't give me that look - Dora flat out refuses to shop with her anymore and I can only take so much of her wistful sighs at all the robes displayed for young women. If spoiling you cheers her up, you can blow through my whole inheritance as far as I'm concerned and you'll be happy about it," he teased.

"So let me get this straight," Fred cut in, smirks and laughter long gone from his face. "Your mum's got an opportunity to look good to a bunch of people who've been spitting on her for years because of who her uncle told her she'd marry. So instead of telling them to piss off, she's dressing Hermione up like a doll to be paraded in front of these people to show how different you and she are from your father? That's disgusting."

"Don't forget inviting your family as well," Draco noted, looking towards Fred sharply. "My mother is a highly born Slytherin pureblood, a Black who married into the Malfoy line. These are the kinds of things she was raised to look for and do. The fact that she didn't just pick some random muggleborn classmate of mine and only took advantage of the situation that presented itself instead of creating one even better suited for her needs speaks volumes to her personal growth. Hell, she was extremely gracious about Hermione's parents declining the invite. If my father were still around and anyone, _especially_ someone of lower social standing, declined...well, he'd deal with it very differently. My mum just expressed her regrets at not seeing them there and hopes that they will come next year."

"Next year? How many years is your mother planning on parading Hermione around on your arm to up your social standing? Getting to know her parents my ass," Fred accused, turning a bit red. "How long has she been working on the contract? Has she spoken to the Grangers about it yet or do they need a few more society events to be softened up to the idea of selling their daughter?"

"My mother wouldn't do that!" Draco protested, eyes flashing dangerously. "She told me the contract would only be written once we've both decided that's what we wanted and Hermione's name has never once come up in those talks! You saw what those things did to people like her! She _promised me_ that the choice is mine and the contract is secondary as a matter of tradition."

"Like anyone would believe that of a Black who birthed the Malfoy scion!" Fred bit back.

"What contract? Why are my parents selling me?" Hermione asked even as George was trying to talk his twin into calming down.

"A betrothal contract," Harry supplied, speaking up and turning his attention away from the window for the first time since Scotland. "Most old families use them. The more traditional families make betrothals while the children are young. You grow up knowing who you're to marry and the women can then shape themselves to be the most appropriate wife they can be for their future husband. Draco's mother would have known by the time she was fifteen, at the very latest, who she was marrying and her uncle, Sirius' father, decided it, being head of House Black. My father's parents were arranged, my grandmother having been a Black. It's how their family used to do things. My father got the deal Draco was offered. He got to choose his wife, it was clearly a joint decision to marry on _both_ my parents' parts, but a contract was written in lieu of an engagement as a matter of tradition. Kind of the same idea as a muggle prenuptial agreement."

"Part of the reason my father took the position to move to this country is that he had two girls. He wouldn't have been able to provide a suitable dowry for both of us in India and it would have ruined him socially to have either of us run off and marry on our own volition. Here, things are different. He's planning on doing much the same as Draco's mother is offering him unless we can't find someone on our own or he vehemently disapproves. Plus his job is good enough now that he _could_ afford two dowries if he so chose," Padma added. "It's a bit barbaric, but my parents were arranged. There's a rather large age gap as well. But they've come to love and respect each other and are very happy. I'm not saying it goes that way for everyone, but my parents are the example of arranged marriages working out the right way."

"The Weasleys don't do things that way and we're an old pureblood family," Fred pointed out. "It's all our own choices and affection. Nothing's treated like some bill sitting in front of the Wizengamot."

"The Prewetts do," Harry argued, silencing Fred. "Your mother and father signed a contract because the Prewetts _do_ use contracts. There's a Prewett who married into the Potter line about three generations back with a contract. Your cousin owes me three goats or something per the terms and number of generations and such," Harry informed him, chuckling wryly before continuing.

"In fact, your uncle Gideon used his own contract and loopholes in his wife's original betrothal contract to break that first contract with Sirius. Dad told me about it after I visited the Burrow the first time. Gideon Prewett coming back to Hogwarts to help break Dorcas Meadowes contract with Sirius Black and forcing your grandfather's hand in writing a contract for the two of them. He laughed a lot about it, my mum kept stopping him from elaborating. He did tell me not to mention it to Sirius, still a rough point for him, I guess. Apparently it was quite the scandal, not like your parents. They fell in love and your mother wasn't already under contract, per House Prewett's traditions, so your dad went about forming a betrothal contract with the Prewetts for your mother's hand. That's actually the norm in pureblood houses anymore. You should ask Bill about it, your dad's probably been over it with him, being the heir and all, like my dad has been with me."

"Doesn't change the fact that his mother's over there trying to bribe Hermione into a contract," he groused, not willing to give up.

"My mother's trying to bribe Hermione into giving us good press with pretty dresses and parties. She's also discussed the fact with the Grangers, who know exactly why Hermione was invited and what my mother stands to gain just by inviting her son's best friend to a party. Marriage and betrothals have nothing to do with it. Honestly, I think she'd have a heart attack if I suggested it. She may be different than people thought she was, but my mother was still raised in the same Black family Uncle Sirius was. A betrothal contract at eleven to a muggleborn might just be too much for her. Besides, I don't really want to marry Hermione, I haven't got it in me to be King Swot," he looked over at her with a smile.

"I'll give you a swat upside that albino head of yours," she mock-threatened, smiling back regardless before turning to Fred. "What are you so worked up about? My parents would never sign a betrothal for me at twelve years old - different culture or no - and we'll probably have to have Harry give his 'it's like a prenup' speech if it ever comes to that when I'm older to get my dad to even consider agreeing. I'm going to a ball on New Year's Eve and get to spend the night laughing and dancing with my friends looking like a princess after being pampered with and by the best money can buy with Narcissa Malfoy, who, if nothing else, knows exactly who and what those things are. Not something I get to do often. Plus then Draco will owe me one. And you'll be there. Were you going to ignore me the whole time?"

"I thought you were spending your time with Draco," Fred's face started to lose it's redness even if he remained obstinate.

"So you can't spend time with me too? How's that any different from what we're doing right now? The only difference will be the location, our clothing, and me having to leave you alone for the occasional dance."

"Leave me alone? Who are you planning on dancing with?" he frowned, missing her wink at George, who leapt to the occasion.

"The more attractive twin who plans on spending the party dancing and enjoying himself instead of moping over made up drama, of course," George scoffed. "Did you think she'd bow down to join the riff raff?" he demanded as Lee coughed slightly. "Oh, and Lee. She can dance with Lee. And Harry's alright too. And I suppose Draco because he's the host. But that's it."

"That's it, is it?" she asked, amused.

"Don't look so upset," Padma chastised. "If everyone else is dancing with Hermione, then it looks like I'm left all on my own. Besides, I'm a Ravenclaw. Between my smarts and your sneakiness, we'll have you and George switching spots before he even figures out it happened," she added with a saucy wink to George.

"Well, I suppose if it means will get one over on Georgie…" Fred finally agreed, giving them all a small smile as everyone cheered.

The rest of the train ride was full of laughter as Fred and George, bored with checkers after a while and not feeling like chess, enlisted the help of the entire compartment to create an entirely new game they dubbed chesskers. Hermione had helped create it, but still didn't quite understand it. The rules, goals, and way you moved the pieces all changed based on a set of insane variables it seemed the twins and Lee were changing up as they went. Trying to keep up and create even got Harry out of his funk by the time they were gathering up their things and heading to the platform.

"You're just joking, yeah?" Fred asked, dropping behind everyone a bit to help Hermione with her trunk.

"About what?"

"I get a dance too, right?"

"Well, I _did_ agree to dance with George, Lee, Harry, and Draco already. And I suppose Neville will want a go as well. And I'll probably have to dance with a few of my Ravenclaw classmates. And I wanted to spend some time with Padma, Daphne, and Tracey on top of my agreement not to leave poor Draco to the crowd's mercy, so I'm looking at a fairly busy night," she contemplated, stopping and putting a hand on his arm when she saw his face darkening again. "But, you know, after this shopping trip with Narcissa, Draco _will_ owe me one."

"And you'd use your favor to include me?" he asked, his tone teasing once more.

"I'd at least consider it. Plus, it was noted I was going to dance with the more attractive identical twin," she countered with a completely serious expression, waiting just a beat before he burst out laughing.

"I'm gonna have to keep you around, Granger!" he exclaimed as they caught up to everyone else. "I like a girl that can keep up!"

All brevity died when she saw the look on Harry's face. He was staring towards the end of the platform where his father was standing with the Grangers, all with solemn looks. Grabbing Harry's hand and nodding to him resolutely, the two of them led everyone over. James Potter explained how things were a bit worse than anticipated and that Harry couldn't come home for the holidays. He asked if the two of them would be ok with spending the time together at the Grangers, if not, other arrangements could be made. After sharing a quick look, Harry agreed that he'd be fine with that, Hermione nodding as he spoke. Giving his son a huge hug and promising to see him at least a few times over the holiday, James head over to the floos to return to work. The light, happy mood from the train had completely disappeared.

One by one, everyone found their parents and said their goodbyes. Narcissa made a point of inviting Harry to their shopping day, which would be the twenty-third per her arrangements with the Grangers, before wishing everyone a great holiday, telling them to contact her with any questions about the gala, and taking Draco over to the floos. Padma had taken a few moments when Narcissa was talking to Harry to introduce her parents to the Grangers before the Patil family head off on their own as well. The Weasleys soon all met up, hugs being exchanged as tightly as their voices were loud, before heading out, calling out that they would see everyone on Boxing Day. After one last hug and a wink that made her stomach flip from Fred, Hermione followed her parents, Harry, and Lee to the muggle part of the station where Lee's mother was waiting to take him shopping. She seemed very relieved that even the hosts would be in muggle fashion and insisted Lee would _not_ disappoint.

Despite his clear depression at whatever was going on with his family, even Harry cracked a grin at Lee's desperate look at mouthed "HELP ME!" as his mother led him from the station. She was worried for her friend more than she had words to describe, but Hermione was slightly glad for Harry's presence for the holidays. It may not be under the best circumstances, of which she was determined to find out, but she had never had someone else her age around for the Christmas break before. With Harry there, it'd be like having a brother.


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Harry's younger brother and sister were in St. Mungos. They had started getting sick just after Halloween. By the second week of November, they were the particular shade of green that identified dragon pox. The part that threw Hermione the most was his mother. When her youngest two had become sick, Lily Potter had taken time off from work to be by their sides. When her muggle remedies and simple potions hadn't done a thing, she had realized it was a magical ailment. By the time their skin had turned green, Lily was barely standing and sicker than either of them. She had kept it hidden for a while, but seeing them turn green had broken her stubborn resolve, and so she had floo-called her husband at work, begging him to come home and help her get the kids to the hospital. When he had arrived at the house and seen Lily without her meticulous preparations for pretending she wasn't that ill, he had enlisted the help of his best friend Sirius to get the three to the hospital straight away.

James blamed himself. He had had dragon pox as a child and knew the signs and how serious it was. Lily waved it off, blaming her stubbornness in refusing to seek help in caring for children she just thought had a nasty bout of the flu. When she was awake, that was. Muggleborns were more susceptible to the disease, having not lived in the wizarding world and built up certain antibodies. The half blood Potter children who spent most of their time in the muggle world before Hogwarts, per Lily's request that they learn and keep in touch with her roots, fared only slightly better than their mother, who seemed to be on death's door.

Harry had finally broken down and told Hermione on the way home from the train station. Her parents already knew, having had the discussion with James the day before when he called in a panic not knowing what to do about Harry and not wanting to take him home to a potentially infected house. There were plenty of wizarding families he was close with that would've been willing to help. But he remembered how close his son and Hermione had been the year before and how his typically shy boy had opened up and started resembling his parents at that age with Hermione's friendship. So James had immediately thought of the Grangers and further decided that a muggle home in Crawley would be best to keep Harry away from the wizarding epidemic in Godric's Hollow. He had even taken the twenty-third off from work to assist Narcissa Malfoy in chaperoning the shopping trip, picking something up for himself to wear at her insistence.

The staff at St. Mungos were currently keeping the three Potters as comfortable as they could and working to try and find a way for Harry to visit without being exposed himself or later exposing his muggle and muggleborn hosts. The disease was in the stage where there was very little they could do to help, and all Harry and James could do was hope for the best. James arrived for supper on Christmas Eve to tell Harry they would be able to visit the next day. James had stopped visiting a week before Harry came home and had been staying with his friend Remus to make sure Harry wouldn't be exposed. The two Potters were clearly relieved to be able to see the rest of their family and all three Grangers' hearts went out to them.

It was Emma who suggested opening presents after supper. She reasoned that between the Christmas Eve service the Grangers were heading to at midnight and the early start James and Harry would have, Christmas would get pushed a bit to the wayside in the morning. Emma Granger _loved_ Christmas, so that just wouldn't do. Enlisting everyone's help, they soon found themselves directed to places around the tree in the sitting room, mugs of tea and cocoa in hand, while Harry and Hermione divied up the gifts under the tree. After opening and enjoying their new presents, even Harry and James had smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices. It was James, in fact, who insisted they would accompany the Grangers to their midnight service to continue their joint celebration. Neither had ever been, but he knew Lily used to go with her family when she lived at home. Neither Potter really knew about praying in the traditional sense, but their current fears and desperation had them appreciating and clinging to the idea.

The dream came again that night, only glimpses and flashes of things over and over. A sick toddler and green, so much green. A muggle hospital, IV's and cameras. Blood and dragons. The city of the merpeople in the black lake. A hedge maze. A desolate building on a small island crumbling into an angry sea. Breaking wood. Trees and snow. More green, brighter, more sinister this time. An explosion, a stern-looking woman not blinking, not breathing. Half moon spectacles. An angry screeching and crashing. Broken glass. Police sirens, flashing lights. She felt herself screaming as the images started through again for what seemed the millionth time, her heart wrenched in the worst agony she had ever felt, when everything went black and a voice spoke.

 _One from the Boy Who Lives,_

 _one who should have gone._

 _One from the dragon's cave_

 _now will be brought home._

 _One must lose the cup,_

 _but won't be all that is lost._

 _Others learn the way of the dog,_

 _and will come at dreaded cost._

 _The chessmaster takes another,_

 _as those long idle would._

 _Both will pay the price_

 _for the greater good._

 _One last crash of fate,_

 _a sacrifice most dear,_

 _will be the same either way,_

 _for some_ _ **cannot**_ _remain here._

 _A choice must be made. Not all left living were truly meant here._

 _ **A choice must be made.**_

"Hermione!" Harry's voice cut through her nightmare as he shook her awake.

"Harry?" she asked, starting almost violently as she woke up, still sweating and breathing heavily.

"Are you ok? It looked like you were having a nightmare," he told her, helping her sit up and untangle herself from her sheets. "I couldn't sleep and was about to knock on your door, and then it sounded like you were screaming. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just a bad dream," she breathed, her mind going a mile a minute as she remembered the details more vividly than before even as they started slipping away. "I've had it once before. On Halloween. Thought I was just stressed."

"What's it about?"

"...I don't really remember. Choices. A choice must be made. A lot of green…" she trailed off, brow furrowing as the dream started slipping away faster. "I don't remember. It was awful, though."

"It'd have to be to get you reacting like that. You're probably one of the strongest people I know," Harry told her, looking down at his hands a bit. "Which is why I came to talk to you. Do you think you could come with us tomorrow? You don't have to go in or close enough to be exposed or anything, but if my dad said it was ok, could you just...be there?"

"Oh, Harry, of course I will," she agreed immediately, pulling her friend into a hug. As a testament to his nervousness, he didn't flinch at how sweaty she was from her nightmare.

The next day, James Potter took them both to St. Mungos after a hearty breakfast prepared by Dan Granger. Emma would be spending the day cooking what would be practically a feast and had even used Harry's snowy owl Hedwig to ask Molly Weasley a couple days ago for her recipe for treacle tart, using the treat in addition to the traditional Christmas pudding to convince James to stay another night in their guest room with his son before they all headed to the Prewett's Boxing Day celebration. She had gotten a smile and agreement to that, while he ruffled Harry's hair, teasing that the boy had wanted the treat more than his father there, saying it was a very Slytherin tactic telling Emma it was a favorite of both of them.

Upon reaching the right floor, they were taken to a sterile looking room with changing booths. The healers had all three of them change into what looked like muggle hospital scrubs and then set series of spells over them so that they couldn't pick up anything to infect them or take home to infect others. Once that was taken care of, James led Harry to the trio of rooms his family was in. Hermione made it as far as the first viewing window and stopped dead, an icy feeling creeping up her spine. In the first room was a little girl, very clearly sick and _green._ She had seen that girl somewhere, but couldn't place it. Harry and James went from room to room, talking to Lily and the kids, but Hermione stood there in the hall, staring horrified at the sick toddler in front of her.

When James put a hand on her shoulder to ask if she was alright, Hermione must have jumped a mile. The stiffness in her joints told her she had been standing there unmoving for far too long. The whole visit, in fact. When he tried to apologize for not preparing her better, she waved him off and apologized herself for intruding on an important family moment and making him worry for her. He looked back at her for a moment, tears in his eyes, before hugging her tightly.

"When she gets better, I'm going to make sure Lily spends some time getting to know you this summer. She'll adore you. You're a good girl, Hermione, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Your heart's in the exact right place. I'm so glad my Harry met you," he told her, holding her at an arm's length to look at her. "It's easy to see where you get it too. Your family's been a miracle for me and Harry. I'll never be able to repay you all for being there at a time like this when we were barely more than acquaintances. It's a shame, really, that the bond between you and Harry's the way it is. I'd be proud as hell to have a daughter in law like you."

All the questions that immediately sprung up with that last comment were never voiced as Harry reappeared from a second visit to his mother's bedside and immediately was drawn into a bone-crushing hug from Hermione. Part of her hoped she'd remember to talk to James later about the offhand bond comment, but most of her was concerned with supporting her friend. She hoped her mother's feast would be enough to ease his worry. Not entirely, of course, it was completely understandable and expected for him to be worried about his mother and siblings in such a state, but enough that he could enjoy Christmas at least a little bit.

Prewett Lodge was exactly that - an old ski lodge in Scotland that had been closed off to the public during the Grindelwald era (or World War II as the local muggles would say) for safety reasons, the entirety of the family's ownings were heavily warded against anyone uninvited. It was literally almost impossible to end up on their land accidentally. And it was lovely. Because it had been a working resort until so recently, the two Prewett twins both lived there. Gideon with his wife Dorcas and Fabian, who was technically the head of house at least in name according to Fred and George, with his wife Marlene and their three children: a girl named Bridget that would be starting Hogwarts next year with Ginny Weasley and Sirius Black's oldest, and the seven year old twins Frank and Garrett.

Hermione had raised an eyebrow at the names, to which Fred and George had laughed, ensuring her the names were entirely intentional and a bit of a dig on their mother, who had named her own twins Frederick Gideon and George Fabian after her brothers. Having a similar sense of humor to their namesakes, with some help from Gideon, Fabian had managed to talk his wife into naming their twin boys after his sister's, and effectively himself and his brother, and thus his twins were Frank George and Garret Frederick. Apparently the twins had already sworn a solemn oath to their uncles that whichever of them had twins first would continue the tradition, not that any of the four had been foolish enough to let Molly know, as she was _still_ unamused at being teased that way, even if she was the boy's godmother.

Fabian had one of the two main wings of the hotel that his family had set up as their own personal space. Gideon had chosen to take over what was once not technically a formal wing, being that it was for the workers rather than guests, seeing that it was just two of them. The unoccupied wing was used when guests, mainly the Weasleys, came to visit, and on the rare occasion they rented it out for some sort of meeting or celebration. It was rather large for their needs, but had plenty of space for several families to celebrate the holiday without having to share rooms. The Prewetts weren't the richest of families since the lodge shut down, but still had considerable financial holdings including a publishing business their grandfather had started that Gideon ran while Fabian had decided to remain an auror even after the war ended. Marlene was apparently part owner of a quidditch team she had once played for and Dorcas worked at the Ministry. No one would tell Hermione what she did there, but it apparently was important and dangerous with erratic hours and gave her the ability to take days off whenever she needed to or work from home so long as whatever it was she did was done.

"Are you done asking questions and learning? You haven't seen the guest wing yet," Fred asked, appearing at her side once more.

"We've made sure you're both next to us. Lots of competition, but we felt you'd earned it," George continued, showing up at Harry's side.

"I've never been to a place like this and your family's so interesting," Hermione defended herself, setting the other three and her parents off laughing.

"And I'm sure everyone will be pleased to answer your questions after we put our things down," her father gently assured her.

"And maybe your friends can answer some of them too," her mother added, pointing out the fact she was putting learning in front of people again.

"Of course," she agreed, flushing slightly. "You remember Fred and George, yeah?"

"It's good to see school didn't get in the way of your friendship, George," Dan greeted Fred, shaking his hand.

"That's Fred, dear," Emma corrected him, giving smiles and gentle hugs to both twins before they started to the rooms. "And of course they didn't, real friends won't let books get in their way."

"How'd you know I was Fred?" he asked, handing back the overnight bag he had carried for her when they got to the guest room. His older brothers would tease him later, but the approving looks from both Hermione's mother and his own, plus a wide grin from Hermione meant his instinctive politeness in taking her bag and gesturing for George to take Hermione's would pay off in the long run.

"Mothers know these kinds of things," she grinned a bit too innocently back.

"Then could you tell my mother? She guesses the wrong name about six times out of ten. Don't know how you can tell us apart when she can't. Unless it's a Granger woman thing. Hermione's never gotten it wrong either," he joked.

"And therein lies your answer - Hermione always knows who you are and your brother doesn't light up in her presence," Emma told him, grinning as his ears turned red. "Surely _you're_ at least old enough to have figured it out? I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit patient with my Hermione, she's like an adult in some ways and so young in others. Barely used to having friends, even. Things haven't been easy for her socially. Which is why I will be keeping a _very_ close eye on you the next few years, young man. You, not your brother. Got it?"

"Yes, Mrs. Granger. I got it," he agreed, turning a little white as he frantically looked around to make sure they were alone in the hall and not even considering making a quip about which brother. "But...you know I wouldn't, right? I mean, hurt her or anything. Not intentionally at least and hopefully not accidentally either. Besides George, she's my best friend. And if that's all she ever is...well, then it is what it is and I have the best bestfriend ever, I guess."

"I know, Fred. I can tell you're the good sort. That's why I haven't said anything to Dan," she assured him, chuckling as his face got whiter. "I'll send her right out, yeah?"

"Yeah…" he trailed off, shaking his head as she went in. Granger women were scary. His own mother didn't see through him like that. Or at least didn't let him know she did.

The day passed too quickly. Even Harry was having fun and managed to shake off his dark cloud for most of the time. Everyone enjoyed chesskers, which the twins decided was an even better game when Ron, chess champion of the Weasleys and Fabian, the Prewett champion, couldn't win a single game. After he arrived, Draco and his cousin Dora had even talked Hermione into joining everyone for an epic snowball fight that seemed to end up ensnaring everyone present - children and adults. Sirius Black was in his element, romping around in the snow with his two children, Phoenix and Lyra, even though Gideon had begged off and left to go back inside with a scowl when the Black family had arrived.

Emma hadn't really participated, but helped distribute blankets and cocoa once they were finished and had spent plenty of time cheering on all sides from the doorway with its warming charm. Dan had teamed up with the Weasley twins, Charlie, and Ginny. At first it was because Hermione was on their team, Draco having abandoned her with a snowball to the hair as soon as the fight started, but it became clear very quickly which side was creative and devious enough to slaughter their opponents. Despite being a mild mannered dentist most of the time, Dan liked winning when it came to sport, making it clear where Hermione's competitive side came from even if she only showed it with academics.

Even Molly had gotten Bill square in the face with a well-aimed snowball as the game was dying. She had been coming out to shuffle everyone inside to thaw out before supper and caught him about to knock a wall of a snow fort onto Ginny, who was hiding behind it and couldn't use her wand to retaliate, being ten and not having one. Her strong sense of fair play had the Weasley matriarch remind everyone she had grown up trying to keep the Prewett twins in line when she instinctively bent down to scoop up a handful of snow near the doorway that was a perfectly shaped snowball before she was even standing back up straight and sailing right into her oldest son's shocked face.

Supper was a rowdy affair. Between the preceding snowball fight and the dozen and a half conversations going on over an absolutely fantastic feast, Hermione was able to relax her monitoring on Harry. Ron was still stewing about the quidditch incident, especially since Harry had won his first game (Gryffindor's second) just before the break against Hufflepuff, and thus sitting as far as he could from Harry without being obvious about it in front of his family, but seemed really engrossed in a conversation with his Uncle Fabian, who seemed to favor Ron just a touch due to their shared obsession with chess and newly acquired distaste and complete lack of skill at chesskers. Hermione was sandwiched between Fred and Draco with George on Fred's other side and Dora, Charlie, and Dorcas' coworker Benjy Fenwick across from them. Charlie had finished telling them about the dragon reserve he worked at and Dora was asking Benji about working in the Ministry. She wasn't sure yet, but thought she wanted to be an auror and was currently taking all the necessary classes to get her NEWTS for acceptance in the spring.

Despite Draco's initial sigh at the sight of a displaced adult sitting so closely to their group, all of them were listening intently to Benji's descriptions of the different departments, how they worked together, which ones actually accomplished things, and which ones would get you promoted. Hermione was fascinated to learn how the Ministry worked and had even glanced around to get Percy's attention at one point - surely he'd want to hear about this - but he was in a discussion with her father that seemed to be amusing the Granger patriarch, though he was politely suppressing any obvious signs of it. What troubled Hermione was that Benji claimed to work for the Ministry, but seemed to be talking about all of it from an outside perspective. There was nothing that claimed ownership or camaraderie in his descriptions of the various departments. Surely a former Hufflepuff would have some loyalty to their current department?

"So which department do you work in?" Hermione asked, causing a few nearby adults to pause and shift their attention. Benji didn't blink at the question.

"Obscure spells and artifacts. Part of the Accidental Magic division, but not involving children. Adults have accidental magic as well, but it's usually more along the lines of performing a spell incorrectly or using the wrong one for various reasons. Doesn't happen overly frequently, so there's the research bit into whatever problems they came across. I'd tell you it's all very boring, but Cassie mentioned you're a Ravenclaw, so I'm sure it sounds plenty interesting to you. You as well, Draco," he explained with a chuckle, Hermione trying not to let him notice she saw the way several adults relaxed with his explanation.

"It does, actually. I had asked Fred once, but he never told me what his aunt did at the Ministry. He didn't seem to know," she mentioned, trying to sound casual about it.

"Cassie does that. Hufflepuff to the core, but can be as sneaky as a Slytherin when it suits her. You'll never know what that one's up to. Likes her secrets," Sirius piped in from Harry's side a few seats down with a bark like laugh that cut through all the conversations and earned a glare from Gideon several seats down.

"More like it's not worth the time trying to dumb it down enough for you to get it," Gideon countered, the restarting conversations halting as attention was diverted. "Not like you'd be able to keep a secret at any account," he added on, refusing to apologize, but cutting off whatever else he was about to say when Dorcas laid a hand on his arm with a _look._

"Ah, well, a love for gossip is a bit of a genetic curse for us Blacks," Narcissa cut in over Sirius' imminent response with a charming smile. "I was just telling Andi about what Ludo Bagman was saying to me the other day. You were there, weren't you, Sirius? Do the impression for her."

A relieved breath seemed to be released from everyone who was not a Granger or Draco after Sirius, with one last glare at Gideon, turned the other way to impersonate Ludo Bagman for his cousins. Hermione's mother raised an eyebrow at Molly, who was making sure Gideon also saw her glare, before starting up their conversation again. Hermione herself didn't have to ask any questions as she turned to Fred, Draco leaning in behind her, as he spoke quietly under the resuming conversations.

"There's some bad blood between Sirius and Uncle Gideon. Honestly, I think the only reason his family's invited is because Frank and Garrett get on with his kids so well. Sirius even gets on ok with Uncle Fabian, which is weird because my uncles are almost as close as me and Georgie. Something about the marriage contract Harry mentioned. Aunt Cassie was betrothed to Sirius before he ran off from home, but obviously married my uncle, finding a way out of a marriage contract to the scion of the House of Black. Can't say I blame her. It'd be great to have a marauder as an uncle, but Uncle Gideon's brilliant."

"Never covers for us when we get caught, mind," George added on, "but talks us through what we did, what we were trying to accomplish, and helps us figure out how to fix what went wrong. Taught us how to capitalize on our individual strengths. Really can't overstate how great he is to us."

"Especially when everyone else thinks we're a walking punchline. Singular."

"Gets the whole 'twins each have their own identity' thing real well, being a twin himself, see," George summed up with a grin.

"But at least it didn't end supper early this year," Charlie quietly added. "There's at least one row every year with those two. They'll probably really have it out later tonight or tomorrow morning. It's possibly worse when Sirius' wife actually shows. Uncle Gideon tries to just stay away from him, knowing it'll upset Aunt Cassie, but Sirius likes to poke at him. Couple years ago it ended with a wicked duel out back Aunt Cassie finally put a stop to. She knows some pretty wicked spellwork," he informed them.

"Yes, your uncle would understand that well," Benjy cut in, ignoring Charlie's comments, "Especially using your individual strengths. I was good friends with them as well as Cassie before we even went to Hogwarts. The two of them were right terrors when it suited them," he grinned in memory, turning to Hermione once more. "Back to our earlier discussion, I sometimes visit fifth years to help with career planning. Would you be interested in hearing about our department?"

"Of course! Not that I'm sure that's what I'd like to do, but it sounds fascinating!" she gushed, causing him to grin wider even as Draco looked at her sharply. "I've actually thought about going into some kind of research. It's one of my stronger skills, to be honest, and I just love learning just about any and everything. Besides, I don't think my current project will be finished even with seven years of work and it'd be nice to get a job somewhere where I could make the right contacts to get funding for my own projects."

"And you're only eleven?" he asked, brows raised.

"Twelve as of this past September," she corrected, blushing slightly.

"Brightest witch of her age, Benjy," Fred agreed, patting her shoulder.

"Working on magical links and bonds from an offhand comment made her first day at Hogwarts," George added, causing the man's eyebrows to raise a bit higher.

"That sounds very interesting indeed, Hermione. I have a bit of experience with those kinds of things myself, and extra resources at the very least. Be sure to send me an owl should you hit an impasse or just want to bounce a question off me. I'd love to hear where your studies are going," he insisted, causing her to turn even redder. "Perhaps I'll stop by your meeting in a couple years when you choose your electives. Give a second perspective to Flitwick's. I'll be at the school to meet with fifth and seventh years anyway."

"I'd really appreciate that, but if you're busy, please don't worry about it," she told him, the words clearly not matching up with her eager expression.

"Oh, I don't think it'll be a problem at all," he assured her, chuckling to himself before letting Bill pull him into the conversation at his other side.

"Are you completely mental?" Draco hissed at her several hours later as they wandered back to the guest rooms with the twins and Harry.

"What are you on about?" she asked, completely confused if nothing else.

"You're actively encouraging him to recruit you for the Department of Mysteries!" he exclaimed, drawing stunned looks from both her and Harry.

"He said he worked for…"

"Of course he did!" Draco cut her off. "Unspeakables can't go about advertising what they are! There's a reason they're called Unspeakables! If he's actually got an owl address in a different department, he's probably even higher ranked than that. Invisible, I'd bet."

"But what about Cassie?" Harry asked, chewing on the new information.

"Works an erratic, unscheduled, and dangerous job at the Ministry her own nephews don't even know the department for? Is capable of frightening wandwork? Keeps secrets? Singlehandedly found a way out of a marriage contract with the scion for the House of Black? Plus she's Benjy's coworker. I'd say it's pretty obvious," the blonde boy stated.

"When you put it like that…" Harry mused, trailing off.

"So what's so wrong about the department of mysteries? Researching obscure spells and artifacts doesn't sound like an unattractive career," Hermione pointed out.

"If that's what they do," Draco countered.

"They're called Unspeakables for a reason," Fred cut over her retort before she was able to get a single word out. "No one knows what they do. No one knows who they are, at least not for sure. George and I figured that Aunt Cassie was probably working there a few years ago, but I don't know how many of my siblings do. Percy, probably, and I wouldn't put it past Bill to have figured it out. I honestly don't think even Mum and Dad know for sure."

"You saw the way people got quiet when you asked about Benjy's job. Lots of the adults suspect something of the like, but the department of mysteries isn't the only place in the Ministry for research or even a job you can't mention. It's just...different. Older. Like, created the Ministry older. They're part of it, but not. An official department, but separate. They don't answer to the Minister, at any account. At least not if everything we've heard or found is true," George agreed.

"Who do they answer to?" she asked, curiosity growing immensely.

"No one's really sure. I suppose it's something like the muggle Illuminati idea," Harry joined into the conversation again. "I mean, I don't think they're behind political assassinations and such, but those outside of the department don't really know much of anything. Even Unspeakables don't know much, according to my dad. Invisibles are the only ones that really know. But I don't know why Draco's so upset. I mean, you were going to be approached one way or another with your grades and personal interests. My mum was approached at her career planning and again before graduation. She turned them down and can't remember the details or who talked to her or anything, but there's no blocks in her memory, so she wasn't obliviated. They've got their own ways, I suppose."

"But Benjy told me he does the school interviews. And I remember. Maybe he's from one of those other jobs?" Hermione wondered aloud, making even Draco pause a moment.

"Or maybe he just thinks you'll definitely accept. My mum told me once that they charm the Unspeakables. You forget things you talked about with them even before they were hired on. One of her friends in school became one and she was suddenly missing parts of conversations from her memory. The only reason she knows her friend joined up was because she was needed for something after the war. Doesn't remember what exactly and can't say more than that. The whole thing's creepy," Draco argued after a minute. "If they approach you and you want to live a life as a ghost, that's on you. Hell, I'll even support it. Or what I know about it, I guess. But you actively encouraging being recruited as a first year creeps me out."

"Life as a ghost?"

"No one I've ever met can even tell you who a single Unspeakable is," George nodded. "You don't remember who you talked to if you do come in contact with them officially. And unofficially, well, any of the jobs in the government they can't talk about or name you don't really want details of."

"I don't think they can even talk about it with their spouses, if they have one, I heard. It'd really put a strain on any relationship, even friendships, I suppose," Fred agreed. "Plus Aunt Cassie's got some weird scars. Says they were from the war, but some aren't that old."

"Then I suppose if I'm being recruited, I should find out all the details beforehand. If I say no, it's not like I'd remember them," she reasoned, earning nods and chuckles as they all said their goodnights and head to bed. "You ok?" she asked Fred, who was still standing in the hallway as she went to shut the door to her and Harry's room.

"Yeah, I've been having this weird dream and...I don't like the idea of not getting to talk about everything with you, you know?"

" _IF_ I decide to join, it'll be seven years from now. We may not talk like we do now then," she reasoned, ignoring the ache in her chest at the thought.

"Of course we will," he scoffed at her. "You're my best friend. You don't just walk away from your best friend."

"But they sometimes grow apart," she argued, a fleeting scowl passing over her face at that same ache.

"Not us. This - you and me? It's real. Seven years or seventy, you'll still be my best friend. We'll still have each other," he insisted, a strange look passing over his face as Hermione was hit by a strong sense of deja vu.

"Promise?" she asked in a whisper, feeling almost like it was scripted, but knowing it was what she wanted to say.

"Promise."

They looked at each other without really seeing each other for another few moments before Fred shook his head, smiled, and said goodnight again, complete with the stomach flipping hug. His door was almost shut when Hermione remembered something.

"A weird dream?" she called after him.

"Yeah. Don't really remember it. Lots of green. Something about choices. Awful, really," he scrunched up his face before waving it off. "Night, then."

"Night," she agreed distractedly, closing her door behind her.

The row happened the next morning just after breakfast and right before the Black family was scheduled to leave with the Malfoys and Tonks'. The kids didn't hear how it started, having already left the kitchen table they had breakfast on to squeeze in a few last minute laughs. They did hear when the shouting started, though, and ran back in time to see one of Gideon's spells blast the kitchen door from it's hinges, taking Sirius with it.

"Oh good! It's been a few years since we've seen an all out duel!" George exclaimed, hurrying out to see what was happening outside before his mother got over her shock and stopped him.

"And Aunt Cassie's nowhere in sight!" Fred agreed, pulling Hermione and Draco with him.

It was the first magical duel Hermione had ever seen and, if she were honest, the last she really wanted to witness. She supposed, from things Professor Flitwick had mentioned, that something like this _could_ be beautiful and awe-inspiring in a professional arena with clear cut rules and an impersonal competition going on, but this was nothing like that. There was real hate and resentment on both sides and neither seemed to be concerned with winning, just hurting their opponent. Sirius seemed more powerful, but Gideon had more talent. It looked like rage gave Sirius' spells an extra kick, but only served to focus the slightly older Gryffindor, making him far more accurate.

The snow around them had melted down into muddy dirt almost immediately as they took their stances, neither moving much. Though it seemed a flawed tactic to Hermione, standing in mostly one place as they did, she supposed from a Gryffindor point of view it was more important to stand and face what came their way rather than dodge. From last night's information, pride probably played a pretty big part in that too. Gideon was bleeding in more than a few places, including a slice across his forehead from some debris reflected by a missed spell that was bleeding into his eyes, and Sirius seemed to have a broken arm and possibly a concussion from the way he was starting to sway a bit, no doubt from the door he blasted through.

"STOP!" Cassie demanded in a thundering voice, running up between the two with a wordless disarming curse sending their wands flying. Sirius didn't seem to see her or be to put off from losing his wand and started stalking towards the other man, who was still furious and agitated, but had clearly stepped down upon seeing his wife in the middle of the improvised dueling circle and losing his wand.

"Sirius…" Narcissa started as he looked to be about to walk through the smaller woman in front of him, but Cassie only planted her feel more firmly as she grabbed him by the throat, leveling her wand between his eyes with a steady hand.

"You _will_ stop this _now,_ " she hissed at him, gaining his full attention.

" _You_ gave up your right to tell me what to do," he hissed back, practically snarling at her.

"This is not the time, nor the place. As for the three of us? Done is done," she insisted, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You so certain of that, Cass? Your _husband_ isn't the one you're grabbing at, you'll notice. Don't think something like this finalizes anything," he quipped, tapping the arm holding his throat as Cassie actually did snarl at him, sending him flying into the mud with a blast of wordless magic.

" _No_ Black has or _ever will_ make my decisions for me. You've frightened your children. Again. Go home, Sirius," she seethed at him, turning and stalking into the house, Gideon falling into step with her as she passed without even sparing his opponent a last glance.

"Well, _that_ wasn't quite as exciting as I hoped, but there wasn't any collateral damage this year aside from the door and I think Uncle Gideon's been practicing," Fred quipped after Sirius had gathered his children and left under the watchful eye and glares of Molly Weasley while Benjy summoned Gideon's wand and repaired the door with a heavy sigh.

"You'd think Sirius would. Charlie said it was him that threw the first spell. Again. Yet he never practices and always decides more powerful spells will win against better and more accurate ones," George tsked the older man.

"What do you mean again?" Draco asked as they sat down at the table with mugs of hot chocolate Marlene was giving out with heavy sighs.

"Sirius always starts it. Every year. He starts the verbal argument and then, if Gideon gets too good of a comeback in, starts throwing spells," Harry explained, shaking his head. "Gideon tries to ignore him, but he always goes too far. And then when he starts throwing spells, well, what's a guy to do but defend himself and throw a few back?"

"That wasn't a few," Hermione pointed out, still shaken.

"No, it wasn't, but that's because he probably said something _really_ out of line concerning our aunt, especially because she wasn't in the room to smack him for it," George mused.

"I'm just surprised Cassie didn't flatten them both this time. They damaged the house this time," Harry noted.

"She has more control than that," Fred disagreed.

"Yeah, she would've killed Sirius this time, I reckon," George added. "He pointed out the scars."

"What scars?" Hermione asked, morbidly curious as the twins shared a glance.

"She has scars on her arm from the war," Fred told her. "Real nasty ones that were still healing when we were old enough to remember. Carved right into her arm. Won't wear short sleeves anymore. Ever."

"She...well, Bill said she disappeared for a while when we were little. Came back sick and hurt with those scars that wouldn't stop bleeding. Told us once it was Bellatrix Lestrange - Narcissa and Andromeda's sister, Sirius' cousin." George provided.

"What's it say?" Draco asked, solemn at the fact that someone from his family had done it.

"Something about a snitch."

"Never let us see it all, gets real embarrassed over it."

"Someone carved words into her arm?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"My aunt. Not someone, my aunt," Draco spat out bitterly. "Grandma Malfoy talks about her like she was a hero. My mum told me the truth. Torture was her specialty."

"At least she's gone now," Hermione comforted him, everyone agreeing with quiet nods of support, drawing a quirk of a grin from Draco in the process.

"We've all got our crazies in the family. Have I ever told you what Uncle Bilius did at our last reunion?" Fred piped up suddenly, sending George into immediate hysterics.

AN: Before I get people upset about how Sirius is portrayed, I'd like to point this out: Sirius was a bully at Hogwarts and even after Azkaban didn't handle not getting his way very well at all. Sure, he was a bit changed while an active part in a freakin war, but remember that this is the guy who deliberately planned a "prank" that could have very easily become premeditated murder using his _best friend_ as the murderer. He, and James, spent a good bit of their time tormenting Snape for no other reason than he existed. I'm not saying Snape never retaliated, even as an abused youth, he doesn't seem the type to take that kind of treatment laying down, but we never were shown him doing anything to get back at the marauders. I understand that, with the war, tensions were high and bullying someone who they had pegged as a future death eater and did, in fact, become one in the original time line, picking on him would have a certain sense of patriotism, for lack of a better word, but it doesn't negate the fact that they were bullies. After Hogwarts, James had Lily and then three kids to help him grow up and mellow out. Sirius is married with kids, but without Azkaban, I don't see him growing up too much. I honestly believe that it was his guilt, cultivated by twelve years of being surrounded by dementors, that made him so concerned with Harry. He's a good guy at the core and _does_ love his kids and godson, but he's still a bit of a rebel teenager. There were hints to that part of his character in the original story line and without Azkaban to temper him, it would be a stronger part of his personality. He was also raised as the heir to the House of Black, thus leading to some behaviors that he wouldn't necessarily agree with coming from someone else, but doesn't notice he has, like insinuating a person is his property or that he has more rights to what he wants than someone else. He may have changed come Hogwarts, but that was eleven years of conditioning - there's going to be some lingering effects, even if they are acted upon/spoken about unconsciously.

Thought I'd mention that.


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX:

The New Year's Gala at Malfoy Manor was a resounding success. The Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and several other papers and magazines waxes poetic about it for weeks. The photos of Narcissa Malfoy in muggle couture circulated like wildfire, as did the photos of her son by the side of his equally impressively dressed muggleborn best friend and in groups of Hogwarts students of mixed backgrounds and houses. Writers couldn't decide if they were more impressed by one or the other, openly congratulating Narcissa for raising a son who saw neither blood nor house affiliation as a barrier within his friendships. Perhaps the most printed photo, however, was one of Narcissa chatting with both Arthur and Molly Weasley over champagne like old friends with Draco leading Ginny on the dance floor beside Fred leading Hermione clearly visible in the background. No one could seem to get over the obvious familiarity and easy smiles and laughter seen on all pictured in what was clearly a candid shot.

Even Rita Skeeter's increasingly toxic quill was shut down after it posed the question of the whereabouts of Hermione's parents by Narcissa Malfoy herself. In a letter to the editor of the Daily Prophet, she explained that all three Grangers had had standing plans for a New Year's Ball at a country club their family belonged to. Whereas the adult Grangers, being on the planning committee that year, could not miss the event, they encouraged their daughter to join her friends and not miss out on her best friend's party. She noted that the two had given her sincere and polite apologies and promised to be sure to keep the evening open for the next year over one of their regular meetings for lunch. Skeeter's reputation had taken a bit of a set back after that. The public was clearly upset that she questioned the motives of a woman who set aside a centuries old feud to invite the Weasley family simply because her son was friendly with their children, especially when it was clearly noted that she was in regular contact with the Grangers and on quite friendly terms with them.

The trip back was only enjoyable because about fifteen minutes outside of King's Cross, after the eighth or ninth person stopped by to say something about the gala, George had quickly warded the doors against intrusion while Fred and Lee pulled out the board for another round of perfecting chesskers. Harry spent most of the trip back napping in the corner or staring out the window. He had visited his mother and younger siblings several more times throughout the holidays, but only his brother Liam looked to be getting any better. Lily was holding on about the same she had been since being admitted, but his baby sister Dahlia would seem like she was getting better for a day or two only to get sicker than she had been before. Hermione's heart went out to him, but she wished he would talk to someone else about it as well. It was hard to relate to sick siblings when you grew up an only child. Plus, she was running out of excuses for his quiet and morose mood swings.

They all settled into the year quickly, the routines they had started in the first half returning with ease. The only big instance of note for Hermione was the visit to her potions class sometime just before the Easter break from a man Draco had identified as a friend of his mother's. The man came to Hogwarts to look in on pre-OWL classes once or twice a year and even spent three days a week teaching OWL and NEWT classes for Professor Slughorn, who was getting on in years and happy to give up his advanced classes in favor of extra free time and rest.

Severus Snape owned an apothecary and successful potions business in Diagon Alley. In fact, encouraged by Draco (despite Molly Weasley's protests), it was where Hermione had purchased her potions ingredients before the start of the year. Her parents had been slightly upset at her insistence to buy the same products the shop the Weasleys went to on the main drag had selling for less, but Hermione had gleefully informed them of the superior quality of her ingredients and how much better her potions had turned out compared to her classmates after a few weeks of classes. Even considering a greater skill than some of the other students, the better ingredients led to higher quality results even Professor Slughorn noted. So much so that James Potter had sucked it up to re-purchase supplies for Harry back in October so that he could perform to the absolute best of his ability without inferior product holding him back. At the time, Harry had chuckled that he was certain it was his mother's doing - his father was a transfiguration whiz, but pants at potions, which his mother excelled at almost as much as she did charms.

Because of Draco's connection, Hermione had gotten to meet the man during their afternoon break. He had a very dry, biting sarcastic kind of humor to him, but clearly was fond of his friend's son and pleased that he was doing so well in school, particularly potions. Hermione noticed his lip quirking upwards a bit too often when she spoke, somewhere between a sneer and a hidden grin. Despite her enthusiasm, which she tried to keep tempered thanks to Draco's warning, the man had taken to her well and answered all of her questions, even offering tips and suggestions. She listened to every word he spoke and committed it to memory. Not only because his advice would clearly be very helpful, but there was something familiar about him that stopped her from trying his patience too hard and demanded rapt attention that didn't even have anything to do with the measure cadence he spoke with. At dinner, Draco had congratulated her for becoming one of the few students Severus Snape would look forward to checking in on in the future, which oddly enough included both Weasley twins, despite his aversion to all of their brothers.

Hermione stayed at Hogwarts for the break. All of the Weasleys would be staying - their parents and younger sister Ginny were heading to Romania to visit their brother Charlie. Originally it had been planned for them to go during the winter holiday, but had been invited to the Malfoy gala and decided reinstating the Weasley family into wizarding society was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Charlie had written back encouragement at the change of plans, pointing out that there would be baby dragons in the spring, which were infinitely safer to introduce to anyone - trained or not. Judging by Ginny's excitement and Molly's increased apprehension, the Weasley matriarch had been aware of this and had planned their original trip to avoid close encounters.

The Weasleys weren't the only ones staying. A very large portion of fifth and seventh years were planning a week-long studying binge, which was typical according to her older friends. As was the majority of Ravenclaw staying behind to start revising for exams, regardless of year. Draco chose to stay as well, as did Neville Longbottom, who was falling behind in charms. Even Padma stayed, though her sister was eager for a week off at home and took advantage of the opportunity. Harry had gone back to his now safe and decontaminated home, hoping to see his mother and sister in the hospital and spend time with his brother who, though still very weak, had been released two weeks earlier, and was regaining his strength in Godric's Hallow.

And so the break went as uneventfully as the rest of the year had so far. The Ravenclaws helped Neville catch back up in charms and even get ahead a bit. His housemate Susan Bones followed along to their study sessions in the library to get help in transfiguration, her worst subject. Turns out her whole family had been killed in the war rather early on and she lived with her aunt, who was head of the DMLE and rather busy this year. Hannah's family was taking a quick holiday abroad, so her options were hanging around at home with the elves while her aunt worked or staying at school with a handful of her friends and using Neville's connections to ensure she'd pass her transfiguration exam.

It wasn't exactly a difficult decision to start, but the girl was extremely pleased with herself a few days in when she realized Neville's friends were now as good as her friends and that even her aunt was impressed with the connections she was making with the next generation of houses that, until now, had been considered dark. Susan Bones may never be a guest at the Greengrass home while Daphne's parents lived, but that didn't stop the girls from giggling over biscuits stolen from Draco Malfoy while they took turns giving each other and Tracey Davies makeovers in the Ravenclaw dorms Susan had snuck into.

When they weren't studying, exploring the castle and grounds, or trying to help Hermione and Neville gain some confidence on a broomstick (it was a slow process, but advancing nonetheless), the first years and Lee Jordan helped the twins plan some more pranks for the rest of the term. Padma questioned why the twins preferred the help of first years, and not even those from their own house at one point. Lee only laughed while they explained that they had decided the year before that, once they were no longer first years themselves, first years were off limits as far as targeted pranks went. If it was the matter of pranking an entire house, or the whole school, they were fair game. But, generally, they avoided first years.

Keeping that in mind, you don't want to plan your prank with your potential victims and by keeping their planning to people outside of their house, no silly firsties would be spouting accidental information in Gryffindor Tower. Harry was the exception because he had a debt to pay off. Harry was also an exception to the first year rule because of that debt and a series of highly annoying, but what would pass as unlucky, events were coming his way the next few weeks. Ron, they decided, would be their lab rat, not that he knew about it, and everyone else agreed they were glad to be staying somewhere other than the Burrow this coming summer. Several of them also, quite quietly, worked to make themselves indispensible as collaborators, hoping they could keep that role the next year rather than potential targets.

All good things must come to an end, and so the week ended, their free days ended, and the Express returned to Hogsmeade with all the other students except for Harry Potter.

Three days into the holiday, Dahlia Potter, Harry's sister, had succumbed to her illness. Within twelve hours, Lily Potter had followed her youngest onto the next great adventure. Harry was tending to his still-recovering brother Liam as a grieving James went about setting up services for the two. All pranks planned for Harry were quickly dismantled as everyone was left in a strange sort of somber stasis, worried for the friend and unsure of how to react or approach the situation. Hermione fell into her studies with a vengeance, trying to distract herself from not only reality, but the recurring dreams she had about choices every night. She didn't know if Fred was still having them as well, but thought he might judging by the circles under his eyes. Draco and the other first year Ravenclaws helped gather startlingly in-depth notes, as well as Harry's homework. They even brainstormed ideas of which direction he could take with his assigned essays and included any relevant information copied from the books in the library. These packets were owled off to him daily. It took until Wednesday to get a response, but Hermione had finally received a short note with Harry's beautiful snowy owl Hedwig thanking them for thinking of him and providing a constructive distraction in addition to several well-composed and finished essays to be turned in.

Professor McGonagall had been quite surprised when Hermione had turned Harry's essay in with her own that Friday. Cautiously questioning the first year Ravenclaws, the older woman had fought to keep the tears from her eyes when she heard all they had been doing to make sure her lion cub hadn't fallen behind. She knew a few other students had sent owls with sympathetic and supportive notes, and the Weasley twins had sent a few prank items they had been working on, but was truly impressed with an entire year group from another house banding together to make sure Harry could take off whatever time he needed without falling behind at such a critical time of the year. Sure, it suited their brainy knowledge-obsessed reputation, but it was still unexpected. At the very start of dinner, the Deputy Headmistress had approached Hermione with a large package with information about the lectures and lessons from all of his classes that the other professors had helped her put together to be added to their daily owl.

Dumbledore had risen at the end of the meal to say a few words about Harry's situation and thank those students who had sent their sympathies. He made special note of the first year Ravenclaws, giving them ten points each, for their efforts in helping Harry keep up with the rest of his year, noting that the essays that had been turned in for him indicated his friends had been very thorough in their daily owls. He also called a short list of names, asking that they join him in the antechamber behind the head table after dessert was done.

Hermione was on that list. As was Draco, Neville, all the Weasley children, and, oddly, both Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory. The nine students were invited to the joint funeral for Harry's mother and sister the following day. Their parents had already been contacted and had given their permissions to floo to Godric's Hollow from Professor McGonagall's office the next morning, should they wish to attend. Not a single one of them said no, though Ron looked distinctly uncomfortable and close to it. He then handed them all packages from their parents with appropriate clothing for the event, thanking them for their dedication to their classmate and urging them not to be late the next morning, as it would be terribly disrespectful.

Once he dismissed them, Ron practically bolted from the room towards Gryffindor Tower, Percy following a few moments later after sharing a glance with the twins and sighing heavily. The other seven stood in front of the head table in the Great Hall shuffling their feet a bit and looking at each other awkwardly, as unsure how to say goodnight as they were on how to greet Harry the next morning.

"So...um...Diggory...Cedric, rather," Fred finally spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "Didn't know you and Harry were close. Or is it a family thing?"

"Harry and I have been spending a lot of time together since he made the Gryffindor team. We're both freshman seekers," he pointed out. "We practice a lot when the pitch is empty. I've got a better eye for the game as a whole, but Harry's flying is on another level entirely. Guess that explains why he won against me so quickly," Cedric decided with an awkward chuckle.

"It's probably why I was invited too," Oliver Wood spoke up. "I actually suggested he talk to Cedric for some extra flying time. I spend a lot of time helping him with extra practice and teaching him how to captain a team, but thought it'd be good to practice against another seeker at the same skill level. Plus, Cedric's a Hufflepuff and a pretty stand up guy, so I didn't have to worry about him trying to spy on the team."

"You're training Harry to be captain already?" Draco questioned as they all started moving to the doors, Fred and George leading the way to the kitchens with the unspoken agreement that they as a group weren't ready to go their own ways yet.

"Well, it makes sense. By the time he's a sixth year, everyone else but Katie will have graduated and he'll have as many years on the team as her. She's a strong chaser, but Harry'll be a better leader and McGonagall will always pick an experienced fifth or sixth year over a seventh. It's not good for the team to switch captains every year," he pointed out as Draco tickled the pear, agreeing with a nod.

"You're doing a good job of it too," Fred pointed out while Hermione asked the elves for hot chocolate and Cedric duplicated enough chairs for all of them.

"Yeah, he pipes up in practice every once and again. Always on point, too," Fred agreed.

"He mentioned that you and Angelina are helping him see the game as a whole better than just his own role in it," Cedric added in his two cents. "He asks about things you bring up occasionally when we practice. Wants another point of view sometimes, I guess."

"He's a good kid. It's a shame he isn't a year or two older - I'd have loved to have another couple years flying with him. If I had a younger brother, I'd like to think it'd be like that," Oliver decided, getting a sympathetic pat on the hand from Hermione, who knew that wistful expression when talking about siblings.

"Harry likes taking in us only-child strays, I think," she agreed with a small smile he returned. "I'm sure if you feel that way about him, he looks up to you the same way. It's like that with us."

"Merlin...what are we even going to say to him tomorrow? What do you say in that situation?" Draco asked, his head hitting the table with a thump as he laid his forehead on his hands.

"You say hi," George told him.

"Maybe ask about Liam," Fred suggested.

"Let him know you're glad to see him."

"Try and act as normally as possible."

"And how do you two figure that?" Oliver asked, though he was nodding along with everyone else.

"It's how we'd want to be greeted by our friends in a similar situation," Fred shrugged as George nodded.

They all talked a bit longer. Draco got the brilliant idea to bring something to Harry and asked the house elves if they'd be willing to make a treacle tart for his friend, explaining the situation. They quickly agreed, and even went about making some steak and kidney pie to take after the twins remembered it was a favorite of Liam's. When all was said and done, they had three steak and kidney pies and five treacle tarts in boxes charmed to be bigger on the inside, keep the pies from being damaged, and warm in stasis as well as a weightless charm. They handed the two boxes to Draco and Hermione, who started at them wide-eyed.

Hermione asked if they didn't think five treacles were a bit much, an older elf laughed and said they remembered James Potter and that he could finish a whole one himself after dinner and before curfew. He demanded that they bring Harry down for some when he got back whenever he needed a pick up and that he get to meet the other Potter boy when he started school. She made a mental note to let the Potters know that the Hogwarts house elves were concerned for them and thought very kindly of them as she thanked the elf personally, promising to pass on his message, and then the rest of them as a group.

The funeral itself was beautiful. Or as beautiful as something like a funeral could be. Lily and Dahlia Potter were put to rest in the small cemetery on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. The whole area was decorated in the flowers they were named after. After the service, Hermione had ended up speaking to Severus Snape for more time than she would have expected. He was there with an oddly familiar and stern looking woman he introduced as his wife. Apparently he and Lily Potter had been close as children. They had a falling out while in school, but had managed to mostly repair their friendship after the war had ended. Lily had even named him Dahlia's godfather and he noted that she had been as special and warm as Lily's mother, who she had been named for. Snape was quieter than usual, but seemed lightened by Hermione's presence, and his wife would come up with excuses to keep her sitting and chatting with them every time conversation started to die out and she thought to excuse herself to see to Harry.

"I want to thank you for bearing with me and talking with him," Delphine Snape told Hermione quietly while her husband said his goodbyes to James. "He's reached the end of his patience for this, I think, and we've stayed just long enough to avoid seeming rude. Social situations aren't his forte, I'm afraid, and anything emotionally charged...well, you've met him. He'd prefer to mourn in solitude, but wouldn't hear anything about not properly paying his respects. I told him Lily would understand, but he argued Dahlia would not. He might not be very demonstrative, but he adored that little girl and Lily was his first and best friend."

"It must be very difficult for him," Hermione agreed. "I was fairly surprised he even wanted to talk to me. We've only met once before."

"You remind him of Lily when she was young," Delphine told her with a sad grin. "It sounds a bit contradictory, but knowing someone with her kind of spirit is still present in the world even if she's gone makes it a bit easier to bear. I'm sorry I kept you from your friend and took advantage of your politeness that way, but really I think he needed to spend some time talking to someone that reminds him of good memories with Lily rather than the hospital."

"He told you that?" Hermione grinned slightly through her bafflement.

"He tells me about all the interesting students he's going to make sure make it into his advanced classes," she assured her. "It's been lovely meeting you, Hermione. Thank you for helping me take care of my grumpy husband."

"It was lovely meeting you as well. Hopefully next time will be under better circumstances," she agreed as Severus Snape returned to say his goodbyes to her, collect his wife, and leave.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked Fred as she wandered into the kitchen watching as Draco hid the boxes from the house elves in a cupboard so they'd be saved for the Potters once everyone had left.

"Up in his room with Neville and Oliver, oddly enough. Where've you been?" he asked, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Talking with Professor Snape and his wife. He had been friends with Lily Potter since before Hogwarts and was Dahlia's godfather. His wife mentioned he was taking the deaths rather hard," she explained. "Apparently I'm a good distraction, so I felt awful walking away before they left."

"I'll agree to that. Being a good distraction, that is," Fred murmured before releasing her from the hug. "How are you holding up? I know you didn't really know them, but you're taking on the task of helping whatever mourners you can."

"I'm doing alright. It's terribly depressing, isn't it? I'm just trying to help people keep moving whether it be hearing stories about Lily and Dahlia or talking about any and everything but them," she assured him, biting her lip a bit. "I should go check in on Harry. I only barely got to speak to him this morning and he...well, the only people he's had around are going through the same thing."

"He thanked George and I for the trick wands we sent. They weren't very good. I made a few really good ones last year, but I can't seem to remember exactly how I did it. Frustrating, really, but we're figuring them out. You've actually given us the idea to pay better attention in class. Doing our homework and everything. George noticed how quickly you were getting this magic thing down without any background in it and we reckoned it was the studying," he explained, shaking his head in disbelief. "Keeps mum off our backs, though. Lets us get away with more."

"I'm sure he appreciated them all the same. Has he spoken to anyone else?" she asked, watching as Neville wandered in from upstairs.

"All of us. He kinda focuses on someone for a bit, thanking them, asking questions, chatting a little, and then drifts away a while and then focuses on someone else when he comes back. It's a bit strange. I don't think he's coping very well, but it's not exactly something a bloke just brings up in conversation, is it," he told her with a sigh.

"Maybe not a bloke," Hermione agreed, looking towards the stairs. "I'm going to go see how he is."

Fred nodded and patted her on the back, looking for George as she headed up the stairs to Harry's room. It wasn't hard to find. Oliver Wood was walking out, shaking his head to himself and looking fairly upset. On his way past, he said Harry had been talking to him about quidditch for a while and then just seemed to drift off into his own thoughts. He looked like he felt bad about leaving, but told her he wasn't sure what to do or say about it. Nodding and directing him towards where she last saw Fred, Hermione walked into the room, closing the door behind her, and stood there watching Harry for a good two or three minutes before he focused on her with a slight frown.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't see you there," he apologized quietly.

"It's ok, I'm patient. How are you doing?" she asked, trying not to stare him down while, well, staring him down.

"I'm fine," was all he said before starting to turn his head to stare out the window again. "People should stop asking. It's starting to get rude."

"Then you should stop lying," she told him quite simply, causing his attention to turn back to her, a scowl starting on his face. "I've just spent the past hour and a half comforting your family and mum's friends. You've sat up here pretending to talk to your friends. Pretending to be fine. Don't lie like that Harry, not to me. You know I know you better than that," she scolded him.

"What do you want me to say? That I don't know how I feel? That I don't know what's going on or where to go next? That I'm sad and hurt because I'll never see my little sister again? That I miss my mum?" he demanded, his voice breaking at the end. "That all I want is for this to be a bad dream and wake up to her telling me it was just a nightmare and everything will be ok? Because that's not going to happen, Hermione! I'm already awake and she's never coming back! My sister is never going to get sorted at Hogwarts! My dad's been walking around like a zombie and there's nothing I can do or say to help! And I don't even know where Liam is! He just disappears anymore and no one knows where to find him and how am I supposed to make sure he gets better and doesn't end up like them if I can't find him, Hermione? How am I supposed to help make this better if I can't even find an eight year old in a mostly empty house?"

Hermione rushed forward and caught him in a fierce hug as he broke down at the end of his tirade, letting them both sink onto the floor in front of his bed while he sobbed out his anger and hurt. She wasn't sure what to say, but did say something, muttering all sorts of silly comforting words that meant nothing, only half aware of speaking, but she kept doing it because Harry seemed to be calming a bit. He was still crying, but after a few minutes was no longer heaving with his sobs and had brought his arms up to cling to her even more tightly than she was holding onto him.

They sat there on the floor, both crying after a while, Harry over the emptiness he felt over his loss and Hermione at the helplessness she felt trying to comfort the boy who was as good as her brother. It could have been five minutes or an hour that passed, she wasn't certain how long, when she noticed the closet door was open and someone was behind the door watching them. Composing herself a bit and trying not to disturb Harry's mourning with her shock, she stared back at the half-visible face in the dark closet, finally making eye contact.

"Hello," she greeted softly.

"Hi," was the only response, but the door opened a little wider and Harry looked up to see what was happening.

"Are you Liam?" she asked, getting a nod in response. "I'm Hermione. Harry went to my school with me last year and now we're at Hogwarts together. I've heard ever so much about you, it's good to finally meet you."

"Harry talks about you too," the boy told her, edging out of the closet slightly on his knees.

"Do you hide in there a lot?" she asked, grinning slightly when he nodded. "I'll bet Harry doesn't think to look in _his_ room for you, does he?"

"Nope," he told her, sounding slightly proud of himself. "I...I didn't want to bother him, but I didn't want to be alone. I was alone when I was at the hospital. They didn't let me stay in the same room as...as them."

"You aren't bothering me," Harry piped up quietly. "You're my brother. We're supposed to take care of each other. And we've got to stick together now to help out dad, he's not doing too good."

"You've been doing so much better than us, Harry. I spend most of my time in here crying," Liam admitted shamefully.

"There's nothing wrong with being sad. I'm really sad about it too, Liam, I just wasn't letting myself admit that. I wanted to be strong and big to help out dad, but it just hurt worse pretending I was ok," he assured his brother. "Hermione had to remind me that I'm allowed to feel bad too just like everyone else."

"Maybe we could feel bad together? It might be better than feeling bad alone," the boy suggested, taking a few steps towards them.

"I think that's a very good idea, Li," Harry agreed, motioning him over. "I've been very rude in not introducing you to Hermione. You were supposed to meet her Boxing Day at the Prewett's."

"Was there another duel?"

"Yeah, but not as exciting as last time. Kinda upsetting, actually, it's like Gideon and Sirius just wanted to hurt each other as much as possible."

"I'm still sad I missed it," Liam insisted.

"Did I tell you that Hermione's an only child? She doesn't have any brothers or sisters."

"Don't you get lonely?" he asked, looking at Hermione with wide eyes.

"I used to. Then last year Harry started at my muggle school with me and we became very good friends. Now at Hogwarts, we get to see even more of each other even though we're in different houses."

"So Harry started to be your brother too because you didn't have one?"

"Something like that," she agreed with a small smile.

"If Harry's your brother, that means I'm your brother, too, right?"

"If you want to be."

"Will you write me owls to tell me about Hogwarts and hug me too?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"I think I can manage that," she agreed, holding her closest arm open for the young boy to practically leap into. Harry readjusted his arms so that he included his brother as well.

"Can we be sad together now? Like with mum when Grandma Evans died?" he asked with a wavering to his voice, his only response being Harry and Hermione's arms winding around him tighter as both Potter boys mourned their loss with their new sister.

Fred came to collect Hermione about an hour later. The kids who had flooed in from Hogwarts had to get back before dinner, per the arrangement with Dumbledore. Harry insisted he'd be back to school soon and requested they keep sending his homework along. On a personal level, he wasn't keen on being a couple weeks behind. More importantly, he knew it'd make his mother proud if she were there to see it. Both boys had followed Fred and Hermione downstairs, getting relieved hugs from their father's close friend Remus Lupin, who had been keeping an eye out for them, and was the person assigned to making sure all the students arrived at Hogwarts safely.

They were taking a ministry-approved portkey back to the Hogsmeade station seeing as McGonagall's floo only went out for security reasons. All nine students gathered in the back garden, Harry following them out to thank them once more and say goodbye while Liam clung to Hermione like a burr. As amused as the other students were, no one really understood why, having not seen the boy since the churchyard service, and knowing Hermione hadn't ever met him before. Harry almost smiled at how seriously the boy was taking the idea of Hermione as his sister. Her and Harry had finally managed to detach the boy only a few moments before the portkey left after Hermione promised to write first thing in the morning and, at the very least, every Sunday after.

They arrived at Hogsmeade just as it was starting to get dark. Remus hurried them up to the gates of Hogwarts where Hagrid was waiting for them, making sure to pull Hermione aside for a quick moment to thank her for whatever she did for the Potter boys. People started talking a bit amongst themselves on the walk up to the castle, but Hermione remained quiet. She would be quieter than usual for the next two weeks Harry was still home. She would get even quieter than that three times a week: Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday evening when she would write two long letters to be sent to Godric's Hollow. If anyone expected them to cease when Harry returned to the castle, they were wrong. Though there was only one written by her now, it was always longer than they had been before, and it was handed over to Harry in the owlery a bit before curfew so that Hedwig could take both their letters to Liam, sometimes with something special from the house elves kept in stasis for him and James. A month after the funeral, a letter would turn up for her one morning from James Potter, thanking her for all she'd been doing for his family.

But that hadn't happened yet. Right now, Hermione was focusing on putting one foot in front of the other to get to the castle without breaking. Right now, she was trying to figure out how to face everyone like nothing had happened that day. Because she really hadn't known Lily Potter at all and had never even met Dahlia. But she had spent all day amongst those who had and were truly mourning them. And she had spent her last couple hours away from school with her brothers, who were absolutely broken at losing their mum and younger sister. Switching back to business as usual seemed ludicrous, but it had to be done. She stared at the large castle doors in dread as Hagrid pushed them open and trailed a bit behind everyone as they headed towards the noisy hall for dinner.

Or, almost everyone. Just as she was steeling herself to move forward and properly enter the castle that had felt like home since September, she felt someone grab her hand. Looking up at Fred to see the concerned expression on his face, she almost broke.

"Are you ok?" he asked, searching her face for the truth.

"No," she answered honestly in a small voice. "How am I supposed to go back to business as usual so quickly when they're hurting so much?"

"Come on," he said, dragging her away from the hall after a brief moment of contemplation. She didn't even pay attention to where he was taking her until he opened a large mirror like it was a door with a few muttered words, and waved his wand to light pilfered lanterns in what oddly looked like an indoor cave.

"Where are we?"

"This used to be a path into Hogsmeade, but it caved in long before I got to Hogwarts. George, Lee, and I used it like a secret hide out our first two years. Not as much this year, what with having too many people to fit comfortably, but it's still here and still just ours as far as we know," he told her as she took in the rearranged rubble that seemed to make benches and chairs. There were stolen cushions, most of them looking a bit worse for the wear, on most of the makeshift seating, and a half-broken wizarding wireless on another pile of rock next to a cracked blackboard with schematics for a trick wand scrawled all over it.

"They'll be ok with me in here?"

"They'll understand. You're closer with Harry than the rest of us. It's not an easy time for him, so it's not an easy time for you. Especially since it looks like you acquired a second Potter sometime this afternoon," he teased, gaining a bit of a grin from her.

"Liam's a sweet kid. He's hurting a lot and just hiding from Harry and James. James has been a mess and Harry's trying to pretend he's too big and strong to be hurt by this, but is crumbling inside. I helped him grieve, is all, and Liam saw. When Harry realized Liam needed him, I somehow got adopted into the family. He wants me to write him. Liam, that is. I'm sure Harry does as well, but didn't say so as expressly as Liam did," she told him with a choked laugh that was half a sob. "How am I supposed to pretend everything's ok?"

"You're not," he told her, pulling her into a hug. "Not now at least. You're Ravenclaw and Draco bleeding Malfoy's your best mate. No one's going to harass you when you get back to the tower. You aren't ready for crowds? Then we stay here until just before curfew. Tomorrow, you wake up after a good night's sleep and face the day as best and normally as you can."

"Couldn't we just stay here?" she asked in a small voice, burrowing into his chest.

"There's nothing I'd like more, love, but that's not an option. Everyone's going to miss us eventually. Georgie'll cover for us for now - he saw us fall back - but eventually people will notice we've been gone too long. Besides, Draco'll be furious if he realizes you're avoiding him and I get to be the better best friend again. Then neither of us will get any of the sweets Narcissa sends him and George'll be mad because Draco's too smart to share with George knowing we'd get our hands on the sweets he's trying to keep from us. And you've got to have something interesting to put into that letter to Liam. Us sitting in here avoiding everybody, as much as I am in no way opposed to it, doesn't make for interesting letter writing, you know," he pointed out, drawing a few chuckles in the process.

"I suppose not. He was really excited about the idea of getting his own letters. And Harry will probably _need_ to hear from me as much as he wanted to hear from me once all those people leave," she agreed, purpose helping her find her strength again. "But we can stay here a bit longer, yeah? Just until dinner's done and the halls are mostly empty again?"

"We can stay as long as you want. But I'm not sleeping here. We've managed cushions from all over the castle, but no amount of cushions make rubble comfortable enough to sleep on," he warned.

"I'd like to get back by curfew at the latest," she assured him, pulling back from the hug, but settling into his side with one of his arms still over her shoulders. "Now tell me where you're at with these trick wands."

Fred's face lit up as he launched into what they had done and where there problems were, occasionally using his free arm to gesture to the board, as she leanled into his side, giving him her full attention.


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN:

The rest of the year passed by quickly. Things were awkward for Harry when he first returned, but after a week or so people stopped staring and/or talking to him in hushed voices as if he would crack at any moment. He spent almost every free moment with Hermione again, even more so than before Christmas when he and Ron had stopped talking. He'd go out to fly with Cedric and spend evenings strategizing with Oliver in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, but even then, he tended to welcome Draco's presence by his side as he walked down to the quidditch pitch or the unexpected company of the Weasley twins during their planning sessions. Ron had stopped antagonizing Harry passive aggressively, but spoke to him even less as a result. He didn't know how to deal with the boy's loss, especially seeing as part of him was still mad, and so ignored him, hoping the problem would solve itself.

If anything, that attitude made coming back even more difficult for Harry. In Gryffindor Tower, he became closer than ever to Oliver and the twins. Outside of it, he quickly accepted Susan Bones into their little group and paired off with her and Neville frequently while studying. Susan didn't even remember her parents or older brother, but knew what it was like to be missing part of your family. Her kind and empathetic nature also lead her into knowing precisely what to say.

Hermione also noted him spending a lot of time talking with the girls in her year. Padma and Draco had originally taken on the 'keeping an eye on Harry' duty when Hermione couldn't, but Daphne and Tracey had soon followed suit and were far more subtle than Padma in making sure he had people around him to keep him from being bothered whenever he was out in public. Once the interest in him died down, they stuck with it, all involved having found a measure of comfort and familiarity in what became routine.

He adjusted slowly, but adjusted nonetheless. After a while, he stopped sneaking into the Ravenclaw dorms for the night on a regular basis. A while after that, prefects and Professors Flitwick and McGonagall stopped pretending they didn't notice and shooed him back to his own tower. It was one of those nights when he was sneaking back to Gryffindor Tower after curfew, having been caught in the first year Ravenclaw commons by Penelope Clearwater, when his shoes started mewing and making very realistic cat noises as he hurried from shadow to shadow. Mrs. Norris found him less than a minute after the sounds started, almost ignoring Harry entirely while focusing on his shoes and responding, hurrying after him to continue her conversation with his shoes. Filch had found him within a corridor of the tower, guiding him gruffly to McGonagall's office.

The next day, Harry had been all smiles. Turns out he had left his uniform shoes at school over the Easter break. One of Fred and George's pranks had been a timed spell to make his shoes call Mrs. Norris. They had thought they were forgetting something when they dismantled all the pranks set in place for him, but waved it off after being unable to think of anything else within the two weeks they had to undo them all. Though he had lost twenty points for being out after curfew (McGonagall was lenient because she knew he had been on his way back to his common room, but he had been out after curfew regardless) and having detention cleaning the trophy room with Filch, Harry had a beatific smile on his face that couldn't be shaken all day. Turns out being pranked was exactly what he needed to feel normal again.

Exams passed quickly and far more easily than Hermione had expected. Fred and George had just about perfected their trick wands as well as a new trick candy they called Canary Creams. They had Hermione send samples to Liam, who was incredibly enthusiastic about them, and received an owl from James Potter thanking them for cheering up his son, but requesting that they not send him anymore items that could potentially affect his work. Liam had switched James' wand with a trick one with a sleight of hand that had especially impressed the twins. Luckily, James had tried to use it to clean up after supper and not while in his line of work as an auror, but the joke could've had a really nasty result. As it was, James was just impressed with the quality of the wand and sent back some ideas on how to improve upon them after his mild scolding and was entirely delighted by the canary creams, asking if there was a way he could get a good amount of them for his own pranking purposes and if they had any other trick candies in the works.

So as simple as that, Harry started functioning normally again, Hermione passed her first year top in her year, and the twins started formal correspondence with the Marauders. Because of the resounding success of the New Year's gala, no one flinched at the name Malfoy anymore, making Draco's days much better. Tracey's mother also relaxed her public stance on blood status seeing all the positive press Narcissa had gained. In private, she hadn't changed, but Tracey was relieved that it looked like she'd get away with having friends from mixed houses and backgrounds because her mother knew it'd make her look good. It also opened the door for her father to reunite with his squib sister. Tracey and Anthony were both looking forward to the summer holidays. Padma and her sister were still at odds, but this was because Padma was getting the attention now with her stellar grades, she was third in the year after all, and Parvati was being sent to tutoring over the summer holidays because she hadn't even made the top fifty percent of her class.

Daphne had problems, though. Her Christmas holidays had been awful. No one was exactly certain what had happened, because that was all she would say about them, but they knew that her mood declined as her stress rose to new heights once exams had finished and it had nothing to do with school. Tracey wasn't even allowed to see her anymore because the Greengrasses blamed the girl for corrupting their child. Draco had offered to have his mother offer her a place to stay, but she insisted that would be worse than doing nothing at all. Her parents saw Narcissa Malfoy as something akin to poison or the Weasleys. Oddly, she was seen fairly frequently the last couple weeks with Lee Jordan, who seemed to help calm her down fairly well.

And so it was with heavy hearts that they all found their way onto the Hogwarts Express. Ravenclaw had won the house cup, but Hufflepuff had won the quidditch cup in thanks to their new seeker. Gryffindor had put in a good effort to beat them there, but had spent the entire season trailing after a spectacular loss to Slytherin in their first game before Harry had become seeker. They had beaten Hufflepuff, but Harry's eagerness to catch the snitch meant it wasn't by much, and they hadn't beaten Ravenclaw in their last game by much of a lead either, so the points didn't add up to enough to help their standings too much. That was what had comforted the Ravenclaw first years, who had been slightly torn during the game, especially Hermione and Draco. Three of their very good friends played for the Gryffindor team, but they of course wanted their own house to win.

Cedric, despite losing to Harry, had won his other three games and had ensured it was by a decent margin, giving them the most points in the league. Harry had shrugged it off far easier than Oliver Wood, reminding his captain that this was exactly why he was working so closely with him. He might be the best flyer in Hogwarts, but there was still a lot he needed to learn to be the best player on the field. The older boy had been slightly mollified by that and had given Harry a list of books on tactics to look through over the summer, telling him to keep in touch. Once he was out of earshot, Fred and George teased Harry claiming he'd be getting pop quizzes via owl all summer.

Chesskers was the game of choice once more, the rules finally being decided on...mostly. There was still some disagreement on a few points, but several games were played to try and iron them out. Hermione was starting to like the game now that the rules changed with actual variables, illogical and insane as they were, so that she could keep track of what was happening and actually stand a chance. After managing to win against Lee in the third game, she retreated to a corner with Daphne while Fred and Draco battled it out. She didn't know what was happening with the girl, but her apprehension was almost a physical thing the closer they got to London. In a stroke of inspiration, Hermione helped her hide a parchment with her full address and instructions to get to her home via muggle means as well as a handful of muggle pounds so that the girl could flee somewhere her parents couldn't find her if necessary. Daphne insisted it was unnecessary, but accepted and hid the instructions and money all the same in her history book. If there was one thing her parents wouldn't check, it'd be the dullest of her school books.

The nervous blonde disappeared as soon as they reached the platform, probably not wanting to draw attention to the friends her parents clearly disapproved of. Hermione had barely stepped foot off the train when she was almost knocked off her feet by Liam Potter as he dived in for a hug the moment he saw her. Luckily, Draco had been just behind her and kept the three of them from toppling to the ground. Glad to see he was doing better, she hugged him back before Harry stepped off the train and got the same treatment. Unluckily for him, Lee quickly stepped to the side and the two Potter boys toppled into the doorway, almost getting trampled by exiting students. Harry was grumbling at Lee while James stepped up to help his sons, laughing and praising his reflexes.

Hermione said her goodbyes to everyone but Lee and the Potters, promising to owl Padma and Draco regularly, handing the canary creams George tried to gift her to a pleased James Potter, and getting an extra long, extra tight hug from Fred, who promised he'd make sure she'd still visit the Burrow this summer, even if their parents were taking on a different first year student. Sometimes host families kept up with a student for a few years. Other times, the student adjusted appallingly well, as Hermione had, and they took in a new student to help.

On the other side of the barrier, she, Harry, and a newly introduced Liam (who seemed in awe of the older boy), said their goodbyes to Lee as he went to greet his mother. The Potter walked Hermione over to where the Grangers were waiting, warm greetings all around, including Liam, who jumped in to hug Emma Granger before Hermione even had a chance. They had fallen slightly out of touch after Christmas, but once Emma had been contacted to give her permission to let Hermione go to the funeral, she had commandeered the next school owl Hermione had sent home with her weekly letter to reestablish contact with James Potter. Refusing to take no for an answer, the stubborn muggle woman had helped the two through the hardest point in their healing. She even made sure to pick up Liam from school every afternoon, thanks to a reusable portkey James had gotten approved for her.

Next September, Liam would be attending the same school Harry had with Hermione before Hogwarts and either Dan or Emma would pick him up and watch him until James was done work. Despite picking him up from a school further away, they had kept with that routine the last couple months of the year. It allowed James to return to work full time and gave both Potters a sense of normalcy. It didn't hurt that Emma insisted on them staying for dinner at least once or twice a week. Though they were mostly introverted, the elder Grangers found themselves oddly lonely without Hermione around after school and took to having the Potters there on a regular basis eagerly.

The group even stopped by the Leaky Cauldron for lunch before heading into Diagon Alley to get the Grangers a family owl. They would have gone weeks earlier, but wanted Hermione to have a say in their decision. After picking a handsome tawny owl Liam immediately and ironically dubbed Butterscotch for the dentists, the Grangers were in a good enough mood to allow James to buy ice cream at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for Hermione as well after insisting she brush her teeth thoroughly when they got home, though they politely declined. While the kids ate their ice cream, plans were made for them to see each other through the holidays.

James was actually considering moving house somewhere closer to the Grangers. He wouldn't get rid of the home in Godric's Hollow, but was having problems moving on in the grieving process living in the home he had made for himself with his beloved wife. Harry seemed conflicted about the idea, but oddly relieved. Liam insisted he didn't care where they lived, so long as he got to see his sister and her family through the summer as well, earning Hermione a huge smile from both Harry and James.

At any account, it looked to be a very busy and exciting summer for everyone. Hermione was pleased to be home and seeing her parents, whom she missed more than she thought was natural for the few months she hadn't seen them, but waved it off. She had never been away from home for so long, how was she supposed to know how much was natural? With a hug for all three Potters, and a second for Liam who had gone first and insisted she skipped him, Hermione followed her parents back into muggle London to head home.

END OF YEAR ONE.


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT:

"Reckon I could pull it off?" Harry asked, pausing in his perusal of the quidditch books Oliver had given him before break.

"Of course you can! You're the youngest player on a house team in a century! Dad says you're a better flier than even him already and you're only going to be twelve!" Liam encouraged his older brother excitedly. Though flying wasn't permitted at their new muggle home that shared a back garden with Hermione's, the two Potter boys (and often their father) had spent a good portion of the summer so far obsessing over the books from Harry's even more obsessed team captain.

"I reckon it's a good way to break something you might need later," Hermione countered, eyeing the description and moving photos illustrating a Wronski Feint. "You know, like your head."

"Of course you think that," Harry muttered, scowling slightly and taking back his book. Hermione tried not to be offended by his tone, something he had been having trouble with since losing his mother and sister a handful of months earlier.

Truthfully, since they had moved into the house behind her's a couple weeks ago, Hermione had been very patient with all the quidditch discussions and rarely put her two cents in knowing he wouldn't be able to try anything out in a muggle neighborhood. This Wronski Feint business looked too dangerous to ignore, and too thrilling for Harry to forget about once he got somewhere he could try it. She noticed how the book's binding fell open to that page automatically when set down and knew he had spent far too much time considering it to stay quiet.

"I'm not saying you should _never_ try it, not even that you shouldn't try it soon. Just that it's labelled as an expert level move and, no matter how undoubtedly talented you are, an almost twelve year old is by no means an expert in anything," she pointed out. "What I mean is that maybe you should work up to it a bit. Keep up with the flying exercises you've been reading about once we're somewhere you can fly regularly, make sure your reflexes, skills, and relationship with your broom is flawless. Try pulling out of the vertical dive a good bit higher than the feint calls for. Once you get that flawless, keep the dive a bit longer and so on like that. Maybe enlist Cedric's help and advice. I know he's not quite the natural flier you are, but he _is_ older and, thus, more experienced. Plus, trying something like this? You should probably make sure there's someone else there to help in case something goes wrong," she sighed a little at the lingering stubbornness on his face.

"Of course I believe you can do it, Harry, and I don't doubt your skills as a flier. You're the best I've ever seen, even if I haven't seen very many people flying. I just worry for you and would hate to see you hurt when approaching the situation with just a tiny bit of caution would make sure you're ok," she pushed, watching the stubbornness fade as he smiled at her slightly. "Plus, if you take more time to learn it thoroughly, you'll have an absolutely perfect feint at the end and be a more formidable opponent."

"She's right, Harry. Learn it better so you can do it better like mum always told us with our homework! By the time I get to Hogwarts, you'll be the best player they've seen in a generation - even better than they say Charlie Weasley was!" Liam encouraged.

"All right, allright!" Harry gave in, holding his hands up in surrender as he laughed. "I'll do it the boring, slow, safe way! You've got a point about making sure I know it right instead of hoping for a one-off."

"You should write to Oliver and tell him you want to add it to your training. I'll bet he'll get the whole team to help make sure you can pull off a move like that without getting injured during a game or practice," Hermione added, knowing the older boy's guaranteed enthusiasm would help push her point. Oliver may have a 'win or die trying' attitude, but he wouldn't _really_ want his star seeker to seriously injure himself in practice or especially a game. After all, what was the point of a star player if they were too injured to play?

"You're just trying to get us inside so you can finish your summer homework!" Liam accused, folding his arms at her with a scowl.

"Maybe a little," she admitted with a halo look that earned her chuckles. "But there's a table out here and it's really nice out today. Maybe we can go get our things and bring them out here? We're almost done anyway. James checked over the facts in our essays yesterday afternoon and mum edited them for spelling and grammar last night, so we've just got to write out our final copies. You've got to finish your final copy of your summer reading report anyway."

"But it's so nice out, like you said! Who wants to spend a day like this doing homework?" Liam whined, following his older brother and claimed sister nonetheless.

"It's supposed to be nice out tomorrow too and Dad'll be off. Wouldn't you rather get the homework done now so we can ask Dad to take us somewhere fun? If we slack off today, the first thing he's going to do tomorrow if we ask to go somewhere is ask if our homework's done," Harry pointed out.

"And Harry and Neville's party is only three days away! We're going to stay with the Prewetts after that, remember? You don't want to have to finish homework instead of playing with Frank and Garrett, do you?" Hermione reminded him, laughing with Harry as Liam bound past them into the study in Hermione's house.

During the day, they stayed in either the Granger home or the back garden, which used to have a fence separating it from the surrounding properties, but James and the Grangers had taken out the portion of the fences between their homes so the kids had a larger outside area. He had also taken the opportunity to place wards across both properties, gaining permissions because of his position as an auror, to make sure the kids would be safe on their own so long as they stayed on property. Harry and Hermione, who were thrilled to avoid the summer camp or babysitter the Grangers had originally discussed, made sure they followed that rule, and all others, to the letter. Mischief was sometimes discussed, but usually either scrapped or toned down. Both valued the freedom and trust their parents gave them more than anything the world outside their homes could offer. Liam, who had had trouble getting on with his friends from his old school after losing his mother and sister, was willing to go along with anything they said so long as he wasn't left out.

And so the two second years settled down across from each other at the small square patio table outside the Granger's back door, Liam taking a spot between them and a jug of lemonade charmed to stay cool and sweat-proof sitting amongst extra books, parchment, and muggle notebooks on the last side. Each had their own cup, charmed like the pitcher as well as being charmed un-spillable, complete with brightly colored wacky straws Liam had seen while out grocery shopping with Emma one afternoon before school let out and wouldn't let anyone drink anything cold without. James had charmed the pitcher and cups for them when Harry had complained about Hermione's rules about liquids around her books. They now also had a tea pot and cups charmed to be unbreakable and unspillable to circumvent her rules.

It was Dan Granger's day to be out early in the system Hermione's parents had set up while she was still in her muggle school. One Granger would go to open the practice and the other would be in a bit later so they could help Hermione get to school and maybe run a couple errands. The first parent would then be done for the day just before Hermione finished her school day and would go pick her up, the other who came in later staying until almost suppertime to finish the appointments and close up the practice. They liked having alternating afternoons off and having a later start the day after they were the closer so well, they kept the schedule into the summer, both taking weekends off. Having a parent home by three is why the kids were supposed to stay at the Grangers until James got home around the same time as the other Granger parent. It was decided whichever Granger was home first would get dinner put together for everyone, unless James had a random weekday off like this week, in which he would be in charge of all three kids and all the cooking.

Hermione had claimed Harry was the brother she never had before and even started truly feeling that way about Liam by the end of the school year, exchanging letters with someone acting like a sibling back home regularly will do that. Since they moved in behind her home, there was no doubt in her mind that the three of them would be as close and protective of each other as any real siblings. Her parents were thrilled to have the Potters become part of the family - both her parents had been only children and complications during her birth had meant she was too, despite both Dan and Emma having planned for at least two kids, knowing how lonely they were growing up. Having James just across the garden, helping out with his kids, letting him help out with Hermione, and generally acting like being one big family wasn't a new thing let them experience what it would be like with a brother and nephews. The Potter's healing was coming along quicker with the embrace of family that didn't remind them of their loss, and James was enjoying having a claimed brother and sister-in-law as much as the Grangers enjoyed claiming him.

"How's your schoolwork coming along?" Dan asked, taking the fourth seat and pouring himself a glass of lemonade. Liam beamed at him when he saw the older man using his favorite straw that had originally been just a blue one with a corkscrew twist, but James had charmed the twist to change into different shapes and colors every time you took a sip from it. He had left it for Dan, as he was wont to do, because Dan had once said he wished he had such an exciting straw when Harry had teased his younger brother about being childish over it. Since then, Liam had shared it with Dan and the older man never failed to find a reason to use it if he saw it was left for him, knowing how happy it made Liam, even going so far as to having sipped his after dinner brandy with it one weekend because he had been drinking tea previously.

"I'm just about finished, just have to make a final copy of my defense essay," Hermione chirped up happily, rolling up her history of magic work.

"I wish we were still in muggle school sometimes," Harry lamented, looking enviously at Hermione's stack of neatly written parchment rolls. "My handwriting isn't terrible with a pen on notebook paper, but it takes me ages to write it out legibly with parchment and quills. I've still got history of magic and herbology."

"I'm done with mine!" Liam exclaimed from his seat, where he had a finished book report and a growing stack of drawings he had worked on after he had finished and the others were still writing. "Do you want to read it?"

"I'd be honored," Dan agreed, talking over the report while Hermione finished her work and Harry managed to get through a ten inch scroll on devil's snare.

"So we're barbecuing tonight?" Hermione asked, eyeing the charcoal in the grill Dan had set up and lit before sitting down with the kids.

"It's a weeknight and we're barbecuing!" Liam exclaimed excitedly, noticing the lit grill for the first time.

"Figured we'd do something special. Sirius is coming over with the kids and Remus. I think Narcissa, Andi, Draco, and Dora might be coming too," he told them with a grin towards Harry. "Not every day you turn twelve, you know."

"But my birthday's not until tomorrow and we're having a party two days after that," Harry protested.

"But with James off, both Emma and myself will be working later tomorrow so we can have Friday off to set up for the party Saturday. Emma wouldn't hear about missing your birthday and insisted that you needed at least a special dinner on your own since you're sharing your party with Neville," he informed him with a grin. "Get your stuff inside, I need help with the potatoes."

The kids hurried about, gathering up all their papers, parchments, books, pens, ink, quills, and drawings to take into the study, which had become the official storage space for their homework things. They helped Dan carry out everything he needed to get potatoes wrapped in foil and placed in the coals to start their long cooking process. Harry was practically skipping around like Liam, seeing the supper his father and adoptive aunt and uncle had set up for him - steak and baked potatoes was one of his favorite dinners and cook outs were his favorite way to make and have dinner. He had been skeptical at first, but no kid in their right mind would turn away one of their favorite dinners with some of their very favorite people. And knowing Emma, there would be a cake too. And probably presents. Harry decided he wasn't going to complain about this kind of thing ever again.

Sirius Black called out his greeting a bit later, beating both James and Emma home for the night. Remus Lupin helped him usher Phoenix and Lyra across the garden from the Potter home they had flooed into to join the other kids. Phoenix was only a year younger than Harry and the reason for his parents strange marriage. Lyra was the same age as Liam and his very best friend. She had been very different from her usual upbeat self during the holidays while her best friend was holed up in the hospital sick, but Hermione got to see a whole new side to the mischievous and energetic girl now, who was the spitting image of her father in both looks and personality. James and Sirius had already planned the wedding of the century, on paper at least, hoping with all their might to see their children end up together.

James soon joined them, walking over with the Malfoy and Tonks clans. Hermione was thrilled to see _her_ best friend again, having not seen him since King's Cross this summer. Dora had knocked Harry over with her enthusiastic hug, turning as red as her scarlet and gold hair (specially chosen in honor of Harry's birthday), while a chuckling Remus helped untangle the two before lending them a hand up. Even her father had joined them. Ted Tonks normally avoided most social situations involving other wizards. He had not had a good time of it as a muggleborn Hufflepuff while he was at school and marrying a Slytherin Black during the war had not made for an easy several years following. Knowing the party was in a muggle neighborhood and hosted in part by muggle parents of a muggleborn witch had soothed his worries and fears even better than knowing he'd be in his sister-in-law's home under her protection with loads of people and the press had for the New Year's gala.

Hermione caught up with Draco and even managed to get a lively conversation out of a still slightly nervous Ted during dinner, striking up a conversation as he beamed in pride at his daughter when she announced that she had just been accepted into the auror training program. Dora was ecstatic at the news, grilling James and Sirius for most of the night despite her mother's protests to leave them be.

"So why are you going to the Prewetts?" Draco asked after dinner, cake, and presents were done. "Is it for Liam? The twins are about his age. I had thought you were going to the Burrow to visit Fred and George."

"I was, but Fred and George aren't at the Burrow anymore," she explained, the two of them leaning up against a tree chatting while Harry and Dora led the younger kids in some kind of game with flashlights the Grangers had found for them and the adults talked and laughed on the patio.

"What did they do to Ron?" he asked with a smile starting to form.

"I'm not sure what the last straw was, but you know they planned on making more trick sweets this summer and using him as an unknowing test subject, yeah?" she continued at his nod. "Well, turns out Ron got even lower grades than Parvati Patil this past year, barely passed into the second year low, and most of it was because he was too busy goofing off instead of doing his homework. Once he stopped spending time with Harry, whose insistence that he finish his own work got Ron to at least complete his work with _some_ effort, he just stopped. Sometimes he turned in something, sometimes not. When he tried arguing that he tried and just wasn't some smart Ravenclaw type and no one was around to help him since Harry ditched him for upperclassmen, the twins and Percy ratted him out. They had been fighting him to do his work all year as well as apologize to Harry and get over his jealousy and didn't stand for him lying to their mother like that.

"Mrs. Weasley went off on him, grounded him for the whole summer, and owled Mrs. Patil to ask about Parvati's tutor when George 'accidentally' let it slip that she was to have one this summer," Hermione laughed with Draco over that.

"That's not enough to get the twins kicked out," he protested.

"No, but teasing him incessantly because he's spending three days a week being tutored and the ones in between re-doing the homework he never completed for a fifth year did," she informed him. "You know, in addition to interrupting his studies and violent outbursts about the teasing with unfortunate side effects from the candies he couldn't stop eating."

"Who's she got tutoring him?" Draco asked once he stopped laughing so hard.

"That's the rub. Parvati's actually got a professional tutor five days a week. The Weasleys can't afford that and the Patil's weren't willing to let him join in, so they've got Cedric Diggory coming over to help Ron go through the first year courses, his summer homework, and help prepare him for his second year. Cedric isn't a professional, but he doesn't really need to get paid for it either. Apparently his mother has a small home business in which she sells pastries and preserves, so he's doing it for apples from their orchard and time on their quidditch pitch. The Diggory's live too close to the village for him to fly without being seen during the summer and the twins were having a blast flying with him. He sent a small jar of the apple butter his mum made yesterday as a small pre-birthday gift for Harry. It was amazing."

"That is, undoubtedly, one of the best things I've heard this summer," Draco decided, chuckling to himself. "Has he made up with Harry yet? No doubt Molly got on him for that. Embarrassing enough that you'd rather spend time with her prankster sons two years older than you than the boy in your year, but hearing about him single handedly destroying his friendship with his best, and only real, friend had to be tough. Was he even invited to the party?"

"He was, all the Weasley kids were, but won't be coming because he's grounded. Mr. Weasley's taking a day off to come over with them and Ron's got two days of tutoring in a row beforehand because Cedric's coming to the party too," she paused, looking over at Harry, who was running around and laughing happier than she'd seen him yet this summer. "He hasn't contacted Harry at all. In fact, I think Harry's a bit relieved he's not coming to the party. Neither he or Neville were keen on the idea, but it seemed rude inviting everyone else without him. They were hoping he'd keep his peace at someone else's party, I think."

"Fat chance of that happening. It's definitely better he's not allowed to come," Draco said with a snort. "So the twins are banned from the Burrow for the rest of the summer and you get to go to Prewett Lodge instead."

"Yep, as of two days ago when Mrs. Weasley finally had enough. You still joining me with the change in location?"

"Absolutely. Well, I have to tell mum and get her to clear it with the Prewetts, but I doubt that'll be a problem if you, Harry, and Liam are all going already. If it is, I'll just stay home or maybe spend some time with Neville and meet you at Diagon Alley for supplies in a couple weeks. I haven't seen Neville all summer, come to think of it. The Weasleys are great, but Percy's a bit...overbearing, I barely know Weaselette, and I'm not visiting with Ron for two weeks" he decided.

"Percy's different outside of school. I'll bet you'd get on with him just fine, but I get it, I wouldn't go either. Of course, Fred said Percy's been a bit unbearable since he got his O.W.L.S. back last week. Did well enough to inflate his ego uncontrollably, I suppose," she reasoned. "You still coming here after? My mum said Dean could stay for the weekend when we go to get supplies. His parents were going to have an extended weekend in London around that time anyway, so we were going to meet them there and he was going to let his parents have a weekend away together."

"Absolutely. I've talked about it with him - we've been owling all summer over our project, you know. His dad's pretty keen on it, I think, from what he's been saying," Draco told her, his grin suddenly turning evil. "So Fred told you about Percy, eh? How _is_ Fred? Getting many letters from him?" he asked, grin growing as her cheeks turned pink. Before she could answer, they were joined by Dora and Harry, who confirmed the almost daily owls between her and Fred, much to her embarrassment and Draco's delight, before turning the conversation into quidditch and the practicality of Harry learning a Wronski Feint.

The party was a hit. Neville and Harry had huge grins throughout the whole day and even Augusta Longbottom seemed to be enjoying herself in the muggle setting she hadn't quite been keen on at the start. Luckily for Neville, his parents were adamant that he share his party with his friend if that was what he wanted to do and James had insisted on having it at their new home. Harry had gotten a little depressed when he and Hermione overheard the conversation James had with the Grangers, reasoning that it's been a tough few months for his boys and he wants to make as many good memories at their new home as possible before Harry goes to school again so it felt like home to him when he came back. It also served to make Harry absolutely determined that he was going to have the best birthday party ever and have fun no matter what happened to make it the best memory he could for his dad and brother.

The only dark spot in the whole day was when Petunia Dursley showed up with Harry's cousin Dudley. Dudley was a whale of a boy spoiled beyond belief with a bad attitude and real nasty streak. Petunia still didn't approve of anyone or anything "unnatural", but knew it had been important to her late sister for their kids to keep in touch and have some sense of family between them. They had had trouble getting along, but were both raised to believe in the importance of family, and so kept in touch regardless of arguments and irritation.

Hermione thought that sense of family was easier said than done. Dudley had bullied both Harry and Liam as well as most of their friends from the moment his mother turned her back. Petunia had snobbishly rebuffed the attentions of anyone not clearly muggle. Draco had been spared the bullying, his countenance from being raised in a wealthy home speaking 'don't you dare' to Dudley as clearly as if it had been spoken. As such, it had taken his whole effort, with the help of Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory, to hold the twins back when the boy-whale had turned his bullying attentions onto Hermione.

What followed was an incident in which Cedric had "accidentally" offered one of the twin's new Ton Tongue Toffees to the large boy about half an hour after they had arrived, interrupting his making fun of Hermione's teeth and hair. The twins weren't even suspected of being involved when Cedric claimed he had picked it up from a candy dish in the Burrow the day before and forgot it was in his pocket, but when he found it thought it would be a good ice breaker with the other boy - the other toffees he had tried from the dish were outstanding, he claimed.

Any jealousies or quidditch rivalries were forgotten with his smooth lie and sheepish apology to both Dudley and Petunia. Only James, Sirius, and Remus seemed to suspect anything as the boy expertly charmed the other adults with a fake blush and what sounded like true repentance while he looked up at Petunia begging for forgiveness from under his artfully tousled and overgrown bangs, and she ate up the apology from such an attractive, charming, and contrite young man.

Once Dudley's tongue had been fixed, the Dursleys left and everyone's attentions had been once again diverted, Sirius had appeared behind Cedric, clapping him on the back and congratulating him and the twins for the act. He claimed the bashful apologies had been his forte when he had been their age and that he couldn't have pulled it off better. He then managed to separate the twins from the other kids to question them about their candies and see if there were any James didn't know about yet. Sirius had become intimately acquainted with everything Hermione had been sent after James had commandeered it to use on his friend and wanted some payback. Trouble was, he was pants at potions, just like his friends, and had the ideas, but not the talent to make them reality. Even Harry had looked perturbed at the idea of the twins making and using Sirius' ideas when Fred and George had told them what was happening. It was going to be an interesting school year, they all decided.

AN: I'm fighting to keep this from being a book per year. For one, it's unnecessary. For two, I'd never finish it. Now that I've got Hermione settled into Hogwarts, I'm planning on a handful of chapters (at most) per year to show her growing up, the ways her relationships with people develop/change from the original story line, and, most importantly, to showcase the consequences of the actions taken from the previous story. I plan on taking from both her and Fred heavily. I even have an ending written out for each possible choice they can make in the end. I do like some more than others, but if I think the story will lead up to one better than another, that's the ending I'll use. Hell, I might just write another one entirely. There's going to be one more summer chapter. At first, I was going to ignore the summer entirely knowing most of my plot changes that matter happen during the school year. HOWever, in canon, every year starts with a few chapters of summertime, something I neglected with good cause before the first year, and the more I thought about it, the more I was drawn to the idea of following the pacing of the published stories by having a chapter or two of summer break before heading off to King's Cross. I usually spend most of the night up when I get my inspiration for writing seeing as I work mid-afternoon until eleven or twelve usually, but I've got an early meeting tomorrow, so it's probably just going to be this one chapter today. I've got most of the next chapter written out in my head, though, so I'm hoping to get it written and posted tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE:

Prewett Lodge was just as beautiful in the summer as the winter and she had barely seen any of it, Hermione decided the morning after Harry and Neville's party. The Crawley Clan (as Draco had taken to referring to the Granger/Potter households) had flooed over from Harry's house after helping clean up the party a bit along with Draco, Fred, and George, who stayed to help seeing as they were all going the same place. Whereas she had seen very little the night before when they arrived after dark and were pretty much sent straight to bed, the view from her window showed the previously snow-covered grounds dotted with wild flowers and colorful thistle and a beautifully maintained path lined by lanterns down to what she assumed was the lake the twins had both gone on about while cleaning up last night.

She gathered up her toiletries and a change of clothes to head to the bathroom a couple doors down. Over Christmas, she had stayed in a guest wing, and there was a bathroom in the room she had shared with Harry. Seeing as the twins were there until school started and Harry, Draco, and herself would only take two rooms, they were staying in the staff wing with Gideon and Cassie. Liam had opted to share a room with the Prewett twins when the two had begged their father to let their friend 'sleep over' with them instead of with the older kids. Her room was smaller and less elegantly furnished than the guest suites she had stayed in before, but it was comfortable, had a great view of the grounds, and on the end of the three rooms the kids were using, so if she walked a couple doors down, she didn't have to share a bathroom with four boys. Knowing she'd probably not be staying there often anyway, it was more than enough for her visit.

After a quick shower and a futile attempt to get a brush through her hair, she returned her things to her room and headed down to the kitchen with a cup of tea and maybe some breakfast in mind. Gideon was just leaving as she entered, starting a bit at seeing one of the kids up before ten. Apparently there had been some issue with the presses at the publishing facility he ran, so he was heading in for a few hours to see what could be done. Hermione had about a million questions about a magical publishing company and another million or two about magical printing presses, but let him head off once he promised to take her in one day while she was staying with them so she could see everything herself.

Cassie was the only one in the kitchen when she got there. Hermione accepted a cup of tea from her and set to helping her make muffins for breakfast. She wasn't sure what to think of Fred's aunt. On one hand, her magic seemed drawn to her, leaving a certain comfort of it's own as well as the familiarity of the one she shared with people like the twins or Professor McGonagall, if not as strong. On the other hand, there was something strangely familiar that leant her an almost constant feeling of deja vu with the woman she couldn't shake and slightly unnerved her. Not that Hermione would ever say anything to her about it. Judging by the way she seemed to be constantly searching for something in Hermione's face, she didn't think she'd like any answers Cassie would offer on the subject.

"Here, sit down and let me help you with your hair," Cassie offered when they put the muffin tins into the oven.

"You don't have to, it's really unmanageable. I'm pretty used to it by now," Hermione protested, but sat nonetheless.

"Maybe by muggle means it is," the older woman smiled, walking behind her chair and waving her wand around Hermione's head a bit.

"I wouldn't be able to do spells myself in the summer," she reminded the older woman, who chuckled in response. "But I suppose if you can figure something out, it'd be nice to not have my hair fight me through the school year. If you'd be willing to teach me, that is."

"If I can figure something out," Cassie agreed, cringing a bit at her hair that was now dry, detangled, and straightened, but poofier than Hermione had ever saw it. "We'll try something else tomorrow. Here, I'll get it braided up so it won't stand a foot off your head. Have you considered a different cut, maybe? If you took off some of the weight, it stands to reason it would at least lay nicer."

"My mum said something similar, but I told her I didn't want to waste my time preening," Hermione admitted, flushing slightly as the older woman french braided her hair into submission. "I suppose I should consider it if everyone thinks it would help."

"Only if that's what you want to do. Just because everyone else thinks it's a good idea doesn't mean you have to. It's your hair, after all. No one gets to make your decisions but you," she insisted, tying off the braid and conjuring a mirror for Hermione to see it instead of relying on the reflection from the window.

"That's a real sore point for you, isn't it?" Hermione asked, after thanking her for taming her hair, despite it not being the original plan. "Other people making your decisions?"

"Yes. It's...you're muggleborn, so I'm sure you already find a lot of pureblood practices archaic and distasteful," Cassie started with a sigh. "I'm less critical of them than most muggleborns, despite having been victim to a lot of the more oppressive...traditions, I suppose.

"Things like culture and traditions are important, I'm sure you can agree with that. But the way some families run things leave children and women regarded similarly to possessions. Sometimes valuable, sometimes worthless," she paused with a cringe. "A female child from a family with enough wealth and standing would be one of the more valuable possessions. If they're attractive and well mannered, even more so. Look at your friend Draco's mother. Narcissa was very well sought after even when she was very young. She's always been beautiful and poised, even as a child, and though she's from a secondary branch, was still born a Black."

"So you would have been considered a valuable asset to your father?" Hermione questioned, filling in what she already knew.

"Yes. I was considered sweet, gentle, and pretty. Some very good adjectives for advancing the family. I understood that even as a small child and even accepted it. But because I was younger and not as attractive as Narcissa or her sisters, I would have been second string, so to speak, and normally wouldn't have been made offers until families were certain they weren't getting part of the Black fortune and status.

"Orion Black was terribly bigoted and very pleased with his head of house status, especially being head of an ancient and noble house, but was also a Slytherin to the core and very intelligent to boot. He was married to his first cousin and Sirius and his brother Regulus were the only surviving children amongst several horrifically terrible pregnancies that ended in miscarriages or stillborn children. His brother was married to a Rosier, who fared much better with her pregnancies, but still only produced females. The House of Black was whittling down to nothing and Sirius was looking to end up a huge disappointment.

"Orion Black then made it his mission to ensure his house would survive and did something the Blacks hadn't done in generations - he sought to marry outside of the immediate family for the entire generation, hoping to rejuvenate the gene pool. When Andi ran from her marriage contract, that was then given to Bellatrix, he put almost all his money on Narcissa. It was clear Bellatrix wasn't right in the head, and neither was her husband. Orion had hoped to temper Rudolphus Lestrange with Andi's even head and charm. What he ended up with was a disaster waiting to happen and he knew it. And so Narcissa was written up a contract with the Malfoy family, who was not terribly entwined in the pureblood family trees in Britain. Orion hoped she would produce at least two attractive heirs - one for the Malfoys and one for the Blacks if need be.

"His last wager was to make a contract with my father. My father owed him something, I'm not entirely sure what. Favors, money, I never found out. My father was also desperate. He saw my attachment to the Prewett boys and refused to let me marry into a family that didn't stringently hold up _all_ the old ways. Orion thought I was sweet and gentle enough to tempt his wayward son into behaving himself. I wasn't exactly your ideal match, considered too delicate for most dark families like ours, but Orion Black thought it would be just the thing to attract the protective, chivalrous Gryffindor side of his son, perhaps using me as a prize for good behavior or something."

"So you were basically a prize to be sold and won for following the family's wishes? That's awful!" Hermione fumed. "No wonder Fred was furious when he thought my special treatment for the New Year's gala was a precursor to a betrothal agreement with Draco," she mused.

"That may have been part of it - my nephew's unusually fond of you, I've noticed. Talks about you all the time," she mentioned with a slight smirk.

"Yes...well...he's my best friend and all," Hermione sputtered, turning bright red as she usually did when it came to Fred anymore. "But you didn't marry Sirius. Did you get out of your contract like Andi did?"

"No," Cassie replied flatly, humor disappearing from her face. "I mentioned how Orion Black was terribly intelligent, yeah? Well, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. If Andi's contract was archaic, mine was paleolithic. It was more about trapping Sirius and my father, mind you, I wasn't really taken into account at all. It probably would have been worse if I had been, my father was quite aware of my infatuation with Gideon and would have gone to any measures to ensure I was kept from him had it occurred to him at the time. He was just concerned with making Orion happy and Orion only cared about getting whatever my father owed him and keeping Sirius in line.

"Had _Sirius_ been the one to break it against the terms, he would have been automatically and magically disowned and I would be married off to Regulus, the new heir to the House of Black. That part appeased my father plenty - I'd be the Lady Black regardless as far as he saw it. But there were...barbaric consequences if I didn't fall in line. Narcissa, who was better at reading between the lines at those things after having helped Andi and understood her Uncle better than me, spent a very good deal of time going through a stolen copy of my contract with me once it was finalized. I didn't want to be Lady Black. I didn't want to marry Sirius. Gideon aside, Sirius and I didn't exactly get on our first few years at Hogwarts. He was an arrogant prat, quite frankly, and a bully to boot. Nothing that appeals to a young Hufflepuff with more than half a brain.

"There were two ways out of it. Once Sirius came of age, he could release me from the betrothal himself without being disowned, so long as he was still in good standing with his family and acting scion of the house. The other way was to completely shatter my end of the agreement and hope I survived the curses and then returning to my father if I did."

"But Sirius ran away from home before he came of age," Hermione protested, knowing which option she had been forced to take from the grim set to her mouth.

"Yes, but was never officially disowned. That wouldn't have happened until he came of age, providing he was still estranged from his family and I didn't break the contract first. For a bit before that, he and I went along with the betrothal. Gideon had practically stopped speaking to me and kept his distance. I thought I had made up whatever was between us in my head, some kind of fairy tale. No one else dared come near me while I was betrothed to the Black Heir, and Sirius wasn't the worst my father could've come up with, so I made peace with the idea. Of course, once Sirius realized I had given up my fight for Gideon, he got complacent and forgot I existed," she chuckled wryly at that.

"There was a Yule Ball at Hogwarts - they do one every five to seven years. Gideon avoided me even more than usual after it was announced and even asked the first girl he saw as soon as it was so he'd have an excuse if I cornered him. I barely even saw him across the hall at meals. He went out of his way to avoid disrespecting my betrothal and I thought he'd never loved me after all. Heartbroken, I accepted Sirius' invitation, as if either of us _really_ had a choice, and sent to my father for money for dress robes and jewelry befitting of the 'future Lady Black', I told him, and received a small fortune and owl addresses for exclusive designers as well as some of the family jewels. If Gideon didn't want me, fine. I was done fighting. But Narcissa insisted I make sure he knew what he gave up and I was determined to do just that."

"Did it work?" Hermione asked, drawn into the story as the timer for the muffins went off.

"Better than I had planned. Like I said, Sirius thought he had won, and really had as far as either of us knew, and got complacent. He practically ditched me three dances in to go flirt with other girls. It wasn't about me with him and never was. It was about getting what he was owed. Once he got it, he lost interest," she told her with a shrug, pulling the muffins out of the oven. "He'll say differently now, of course, but that's how he is. I was devastated and miserable. The man I loved wouldn't even look at me and the man I was betrothed to preferred flirting with anything in a skirt to being near me. I felt completely hopeless and was starting to resign myself a life of loneliness, trying my hardest not to cry at the table I was abandoned at and instead look collected and disinterested in Sirius' wandering attention.

"Then it happened," she looked out the window with a far off gaze and a smile. "Just as I was losing my battle with tears, he came up to me, wiped the couple tears that had escaped from my cheeks, and asked me to dance. Gideon and I danced until the music stopped and Professor McGonagall kicked us out of the hall. It was a really wonderful night by the end. I felt like I was in that muggle fairy tale Cinderella Lily used to read the kids - dressed to the nines in the highest of high fashion, practically dripping with the family jewels, and dancing with the love of my life. It's still one of the best nights of my life."

"So you used the more dangerous path to get out of the contract?" Hermione asked, shaking the images of a fairy tale ball with a redheaded prince from her mind.

"Didn't really have the choice. I was going to try and reason with Sirius, but he went and ran off from his family. When he came of age, he'd be disowned and I'd have to marry Regulus, who I knew and liked less than I had Sirius when the betrothal was first written. There were severe consequences involved. When I finally came clean to Gideon about what I planned to do about a week before he graduated, he broke things off with me, insisting he'd never be able to live with himself helping me get myself killed, that even if I survived breaking the contract, my father would murder me in cold blood for putting him further in debt to Orion Black," she paused, cocking her head to the side. "Almost happened that way too, come to that.

"Anyway, Sirius redoubled his efforts to win me back, but I was even less interested than before. Gideon loved me, he was just afraid for me. I couldn't stand the thought of marrying someone like Regulus or even Sirius knowing Gideon would've been properly courting me had I not been claimed already. No one was willing to help Sirius either, everyone had written me off as Regulus' betrothed at that point. I was determined to get out of it again. Gideon wouldn't respond to my owls and refused to see me, afraid he'd get me hurt. Guess he didn't count on me preferring death to marrying a death eater. I eventually told him if he wouldn't help me out of it, I'd find someone else who would and that worked."

"Someone else could have helped you break the contract?" Hermione was confused.

"Anyone else, really. I just really couldn't stand the thought of it being anyone but Gideon. The only way out past Sirius releasing me would be to break the purity clause. I was getting desperate, but not to the point where I wanted to do that with some random bloke I didn't care about," Cassie told her, a lot of dots starting to connect in Hermione's head.

"Gideon was waiting at the Hogsmeade station the last day of term. I snuck off with him instead of taking the Express back to London. With Sirius about to be disowned, I was to spend the summer in the Black home getting to know Regulus. I'd return to Hogwarts married, well, if Regulus chose to permit me to return. Prewetts are as stubborn as the Weasleys, you know, and he was against doing anything that could possibly hurt me. However, knowing what fate he was leaving me to and knowing I'd do whatever I had to to escape it, he wasn't about to lose me to someone else a second time and knew if my father didn't manage to kill me, I'd be married off to whoever 'ruined me'.

"So he helped me run away. The curses from the agreement almost killed me. His father, Charles, hired on a mediwitch to help nurse me back to health and kept me hidden and protected. He didn't agree with our actions, par se, but disagreed with the way I was sold off to the Blacks and under what conditions even more. Plus, especially after their mother died just after Molly had started at Hogwarts, Charles Prewett was extremely dedicated to his children's happiness. Helping us in the aftermath of breaking the betrothal was one of the only things Gideon ever asked of him, so Charles put his all into making sure I lived to continue to make his son happy and even drew up a betrothal to present to my father where they declined a dowry and claimed all rights over me for my own protection," she insisted, watching Hermione's interest picque again. "I returned home once I recovered. It was late July by then. My father was livid and _did_ try to kill me, but I had Gideon, Fabian, and Benjy backing me up. Once we completely obliterated him in the duel he started, he insisted they couldn't protect me from him forever. The only way he'd let this go is if I had another betrothal in place and he wasn't paying a cent in dowry for the injustice done to his name that he was sure they had helped me contrive because I was too good and too sweet of a girl to come up with it on my own. His last demand was for the name of the boy who ruined me and destroyed his contract with Orion Black, so he could ruin him.

"Gideon stepped forward immediately, told him that he had willingly helped me out of the contract and that my father would never see me again if he threatened me one more time. He reminded him I was now without a contract and could marry as I chose, being old enough to consent at the time. Moreso, he presented Charles' betrothal agreement and promised to take both my father and Orion Black to the Wizengamot for some of the more...questionable addendums to my original betrothal if he didn't agree to it and sign it. Some of the things in the original weren't exactly legal, but they'd never get convicted of anything. It'd just be tedious and put a shadow on the families making others hesitant to sign any kind of papers with them. My father didn't even read it through entirely before signing it and insisting I was the Prewett's problem now, so they could give me a place to live and pay for my schooling and all.

"That suited us just fine. We came back here for the rest of the summer and married the next after my final year at Hogwarts. A few months later, Charles was killed outside Diagon Alley and Gideon should have inherited the lodge and House Prewett. But with the injuries I sustained from breaking the betrothal, it was unlikely I'd have any children, and so Charles had it written out that Fabian was heir unless Gideon was to produce one of his own. If anything were to happen to Fabian and his children, Gideon would get the title back and adopt in one of Molly's kids as his heir. Probably Charlie or Percy, seeing as they're the next oldest to the Weasley heir," she finished as she started putting out some plates and fruit. It was close to nine now and people would be gathering soon. "It was supposed to be temporary on the off chance I managed to bear an heir, but there was already a lot of damage and scar tissue and then I was abducted and tortured for several weeks in the war for information and in revenge for turning in my brothers and father to the DMLE with concrete evidence of their crimes as death eaters or sympathizers to the Dark Lord's cause. Prolonged cruciatus exposure does terrible things to you internally."

"You still hold the traditions in esteem? After all that?" Hermione asked, uncomprehending.

"There's more to wizarding culture than treating women like possessions that muggleborns have issues coming to terms with. We should have a talk about house elves sometime, for instance. I just figured with a good backstory on why I _should_ have Sirius' attitude towards pureblood traditions, it'd give you pause before writing me off as indoctrinated should I defend something you find abhorrent," Cassie told her, causing her to pause for a moment to consider that.

"It _would_ be helpful to learn things from someone raised in a more traditional pureblood home than the Weasleys who's not...well, Draco. Things like betrothals and courting would be weird to talk about with him and he'd tell me what he'd insist someone would do to prove their worth to me, not what's expected and what means what," she agreed.

"You're a very reasonable and intelligent girl, Hermione. It would just take more than books and Draco for you to feel at home in a completely different culture. My experience and home are welcome to you at all times, you know," Cassie offered, sharing a smile with her as she thanked her and Harry shuffled into the kitchen in his pajamas, flopping down in the chair beside Hermione.


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN:

Hermione enjoyed her weeks at Prewett Lodge greatly. After the conversation she had with Cassie her first morning there, she had steadfastly ignored the uncomfortable feeling of deja vu she had around the woman. Harry teased her a few times about their early morning conversations, Draco even making a quip about her using the twins to meet more interesting adults to interrogate the day she had disappeared before they all woke up and returned at suppertime with Gideon, having learned about magical publishing. The twins struck back in their own twin-speak claiming Draco was just jealous he hadn't known about the trip beforehand and missed out on a learning opportunity. He had brushed them off with a scoff of denial, but Hermione had apologized later for forgetting to mention it to him, knowing he had probably been at least slightly interested.

The last day of their time at the lodge, all the teenagers were headed to Diagon Alley with Cassie and Gideon after breakfast. Liam would be staying with his friends for the remained of the day before James picked him up for dinner. James, Narcissa, and the Grangers were waiting for them in the Leaky Cauldron with Dean Thomas, who was joining them for his shopping before heading to the Grangers for the weekend. The whole group met up with the Weasleys as they left Gringotts. They were joined by a small and very excitable boy named Colin Creevey, who was the newest muggleborn they were sponsoring and already good friends with their youngest, Ginny, who was also starting Hogwarts this year.

"Is it hard to fit in coming from a muggle family?" Colin asked Hermione as they all wandered Flourish and Blotts.

"Not really," she assured him before thinking a bit more on it. "But then again, my birthday is in September and yours is in May, so I had almost a full year longer to get used to the idea and read up on everything magic."

"Professor Sprout came to give me my letter this past May and introduce me to the Weasleys. Then she took my family to Diagon Alley just after school ended. I got a few books and a camera, but waited until now to get my supplies. Everything in the books seemed a bit...dated?" he questioned, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"I suppose it is," Hermione chuckled. "The wizarding world hit a peak and didn't really progress too far past it about a century or so ago. I'm still having problems reconciling some things they refer to as tradition. Draco's been a big help - he's from an older pureblood line. The Weasley family goes back almost as far as his, but they've pretty much shunned most traditions. Mrs. Weasley's from an old line as well, the Prewetts. I've just spent the last couple weeks at their home. Her brother Gideon took me to the publishing house his family owns to show me how the business works in the magical world and his wife Cassie has been very helpful in helping me see what's actually tradition and what's stubbornness or just outdated. She's from an old family too and wasn't treated well in it. She told me it was important to understand what I wanted to change and why rather than just try and change anything that seemed odd or different to me, disrespecting a different culture in the process."

"Do you think you could help me if I stumble a bit? It's all very different to me and I want to learn everything I can. My younger brother Dennis is a wizard too - he'll be starting next year. That's why I begged for a camera. I want to learn what I can so he can go to school knowing which way is up. I might not be there to help him," he admitted sadly.

"Not planning on staying longer than a year?" Hermione teased, slightly concerned.

"Might not be healthy enough to leave home for more than a year," he corrected with a sigh. "I was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. It was in remission for a while, but my last doctor's visit didn't go so well. My parents haven't told me exactly what the MRI saw, but it was a fight getting them to let me go to Hogwarts this year. They only decided for sure about a week ago."

"Colin, that's awful! I'm so sorry…" she trailed off, completely blank on what she should say.

"It is what it is," he brushed her off with a shrug. "All I can do is keep fighting and enjoy myself while I can. I'm going to meet as many people and learn as much as I can while I'm there. If I'm lucky, I'll get to go next year too. If not, I've got my camera so I can keep my memories of this year and Dennis can send me more pictures after that."

"That's a great attitude to have," Hermione told him, impressed.

"I've have three years to get to it. It took a while, but things are much better living as much as I can while I can instead of crying and being scared all the time," he assured her, his gaze catching something out the window behind her. "What's the ice cream parlor like? It looks brilliant!"

"It's really good. Harry's godfather insists it's the best ice cream in the world. I don't know if I believe that, but it's certainly the best of the small amounts I've ever had. My parents are dentists. I'm not allowed sweets most of the time," she admitted.

"Do you think we can get some?" he asked hopefully.

"I think we should get your and Ginny's wands first so you're not grabbing at Ollivander's stock with sticky fingers," Cassie interrupted with a grin, walking up to the pair. "Do you have all your schoolbooks? Everyone else is about done here."

The two gathered their purchases and headed to the till once Colin was assured he would be getting ice cream before the day was done. He and Ginny headed over to Ollivanders next while Narcissa and James followed Draco, Hermione, Harry, and Dean to meet up with the Grangers at Eeylops Owl Emporium where they were getting some more treats for Butterscotch.

"If we pooled our extra money together, do you think we could afford a small owl for Colin?" Hermione asked her friends while they both chose treats for their owls.

"Another new best friend? I'm starting to get jealous here," Draco teased, drawing chuckles from Harry.

"No, I hardly know him, but he's nice enough and needs an owl. I don't think the Weasleys will think to bring him here. They didn't bring me," she explained.

"But he can use school owls. You only needed one when your parents started socializing," Harry pointed out. "Why are you so insistent on this?"

"He's sick. Cancer, he said. That's why he's taking so many pictures of everyone and everything. He doesn't know if he'll be healthy enough to go to Hogwarts more than one year and wants to learn enough to prepare his brother for next year," she explained, trying to ignore the way the boy's faces fell with the news.

"That's rough. If he can't go back, it'd be good to have an owl to talk to everyone he met," Harry decided.

"Even if he can, it'd be nice for him to have his own to send his pictures to his brother and order more film when he needs it," Dean agreed, pulling what he had from his pockets to count it up.

Between the four of them, they were five sickles short of the smallest owl Eeylops offered. Wondering what was holding them up, Emma Granger had come over and asked what they were up to. Once she got the full story from them, she called over James, Narcissa, and her husband. All the adults chipped in the rest of what they needed to buy an owl, a cage, and some treats. The Weasleys looked a little put out that the others had bought their charge a slightly expensive gift, but shrugged it off when Hermione explained the Creevey's would need a family owl Colin's parents and brother could summon to write to him once he was in school, especially seeing as Dennis would be there the next year too. Ron still looked a bit jealous, but Ginny proclaimed it was a brilliant idea once she heard it would be a family owl. After all, what family with witches and wizards in it didn't have an owl?

Colin loved the brown and white speckled bird and talked to it excitedly the whole way off the main drag and to the small apothecary owned by Severus Snape most of the students with him swore by. The Weasley family parted ways at that point, promising to meet them all at Fortescue's once their potions kits were stocked. After a quiet word from James, Gideon had grabbed the twins by the backs of their collars to drag them along with, telling Molly he would be personally stocking their potions kits that year, scolding the two for not telling him they were two of the top potions students in their year.

The young boy's excitement didn't end upon entering the shop that the twins and Dean looked upon with wide eyes. It was smaller than the main apothecary, but the ingredients were even visually a higher standard and displayed as meticulously and attractively as Honeydukes' candy when the store opened every morning. While the returning students went about gathering the ingredients they needed rather efficiently due to the good order the store was in, Colin flitted around looking at everything and snapping photos with his usual exuberance.

"I never thought a bin of beetle eyes would make me eager to buy some," Dean commented as he weighed out what he needed for school.

"This place is great," Fred agreed from a few bins over.

"Really well laid out," George noted, giving the store an appraising once over.

"I'm glad you approve, Mr. Weasleys," a silky voice interrupted as the owner showed up behind the students. "Is there a reason you've brought...that...with you?" he asked, inclining his head towards Colin with a critical look.

"We're his sponsors this year," Fred explained with a shrug.

"He insisted on buying his ingredients from the same place Hermione did," George added.

"Blame her," they both insisted, earning an unimpressed eye roll as the dark man focused on her instead.

"Miss Granger?"

"He seems to look up to me a bit," she admitted. "The Weasleys were my sponsor family last year and he's been told how unusual it is for a student to move on after just one year. This might be his only year at Hogwarts due to health concerns and he wants to learn everything to prepare his brother for next year."

"Two wizards born to the same muggle parents? That's interesting," Snape noted, looking over to the excitable boy once more. "Don't let him break or ruin anything," he added as the boy bounced over to them.

"Did you see the croakoa? It smells really good!" he insisted before noticing Snape. "I'm sorry, sir, I hadn't noticed you. I'm Colin Creevey. I'll be starting Hogwarts this year!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Creevey. I'm Severus Snape. I own this shop and teach advanced potions at Hogwarts," he told him, causing the boy to light up even further.

"Wow! This is a really great shop! I looked around the other one by the bookstore when I came here in May with Professor Sprout, but this one is way cooler! You've got so much more and even the stuff that's the same looks less gross! What's the croakoa used for? It's not on my list," he managed to get out all in one breath.

"Most commonly? Chocolate frogs. They're 70% croakoa. It's used mostly for cooking and confections, but can be used to alter the taste of some potions and for other properties in a few others. Magical cocoa is one way how the chocolate frogs get their jump," he explained, despite looking a little taken aback by the boy's enthusiasm and having sent Hermione a slight scowl.

"So if I took some to my mum she could use it in a cake?" he asked.

"Yes, provided it was supposed to be chocolate flavored," Snape agreed, measuring out a small amount. "You don't want to be using more than this in a muggle household. Tell your mother to mix it with the rest of the chocolate she would normally use making a cake to send you off to Hogwarts. It's on the house this time. If she wants more, I expect you to find out how much she needs and why she shouldn't use more first. I'll make sure to put a form in your bag for owl purchases, should you need it. If you send me your findings, I'll sell you the croakoa."

"Cool!" Colin added the bag to his school purchases gleefully. "Thank you so much, sir! This stuff smells amazing! And it's the same color as my owl! That's what I'll name you - Croakoa!" he decided, beaming at the amused-looking bird.

"Yes," was all Snape said before pulling the twins away to discuss a few other ingredients with them.

After everyone was done, they headed back to the main drag to meet up for ice cream. Though the Weasleys originally had tried to decline and head home with their children and purchases, Gideon had insisted that he was buying for everyone and even talked the Grangers into sharing a small sundae they seemed to be relishing while the kids all tackled huge sundaes of their own Fortescue himself had served them, making sure his hand went a little heavy when pouring on sauces and topping them with whipped cream. Hermione and Ginny had even gotten a few extra cherries on top of theirs with a wink from the proprietor when Fred teased that neither would steal his this time.

Colin was on cloud nine behind his own mountain of raspberry ice cream swimming in fudge sauce. When Fortescue had come over to check how they were doing, the boy had raved about the ice cream, telling him he would bring his brother back next summer when he was shopping for his own supplies, bragging out how lucky they were to both be wizards from muggle parents. Fortescue didn't get into the ice cream business just because he made phenomenal frozen treats, he truly enjoyed making peoples days better and especially loved seeing kid's faces light up when he handed them a cone. As such, he let the people at the counter get a bit backed up while he sat down and asked Colin about his trip to the alley and heard about how excited the boy was to go to Hogwarts.

After ice cream, the Weasleys and Colin (minus the twins) said their goodbyes and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to head back to the Burrow. Narcissa soon followed them, giving Draco an extra long hug and assuring the Granger's she'd be picking him up in a week. She was taking the time to tour the continent, looking in on some of the Malfoy investments she was watching over until Draco came of age. Most years he went with her, but she agreed to let him have a year off to spend with the friends she was so grateful he had.

Hermione turned to the Prewett's, ready to thank them for their hospitality the past two weeks and expecting them to leave when Gideon announced they'd be following them to a little bookstore Cassie was a fan of a bit off the alley. It had different offerings than Flourish and Blotts, which concerned itself mainly with the best sellers in every category and whatever was being assigned at Hogwarts. The Grangers seemed just as interested as their daughter when he explained that because they didn't want to be in direct competition with the larger store, they chose to sell lesser known titles and some books that were tailored to very specific subjects that didn't sell as well on a mass scale. By offering what their major competitor did not, they made a nice business for themselves and were rather good customers themselves when it came to the Prewett's own publishing business. As they set off, he pulled the twins to him again and started questioning them on their pranks they had been working on, not realizing how far along they really were until James Potter had tipped him off.

"We wanted to thank you for having Hermione over these past two weeks. With her having started Hogwarts and everything, we hadn't set up a holiday this summer and I'm sure she appreciated something more than sitting around home the whole time," Emma told Cassie as they walked down the alley.

"I was glad to have her. Harry and Draco, too, come to that. Gideon and I don't have children ourselves - I can't, you see. I love having Fabian and Marlene's kids around, but it was something special having _our_ home filled with children for a while. With the lodge as large as it is, it's more like they live next door most of the time," she explained, smiling at Emma.

"It's not odd living with your brother-in-law and his family?" she questioned, jumping on something that had bothered her since Christmas.

"Not terribly. Gideon and Fabian have always been almost as close as Fred and George. They never would have lived too far apart. Gideon's supposed to be head of House Prewett, but we're unable to have children. Instead of just naming one of Fabian's his heir, he gave up the title to his brother so that his sons could be taught to lead the house by their father like he and Fabian were. We were going to find our own place, but Fabian insisted that he refused to have his brother, and rightful head of house, living anywhere but their ancestral home. Having been a holiday getaway set up to accommodate over a hundred guests at a time as well as a full staff, it's not like we're living on top of each other," she explained.

"So you just expected to be in close proximity to Fabian your whole life when you married Gideon? Perhaps even share a home with his family? It takes a special sort to accept that easily as a newlywed," Emma chuckled.

"I was friends with both of them since we were small and had started planning my wedding to Gideon when I was about Hermione's age, so I hadn't expected anything different for my life," she shrugged. "It took Marlene a bit of adjusting, but she accepted it as well and laid some ground rules the twins accepted. Once she had kids, she was actually grateful for it rather than just accepting."

"I suppose anyone who wants to marry your nephews will have a similar challenge," Emma noted, tilting her head to the side a bit, "Both sets if I remember correctly. Of course, all four are pretty remarkable boys. I suppose less than a special sort of woman would be out of the question."

"They are," Cassie agreed proudly, beaming at the nephews who were present in front of her. "Frankie and Garrett haven't found their calling yet, but Fred and George are dedicated to theirs and clever as kneazles. They'll get what they want out of life and accomplish great things," she paused, watching as Hermione helped the twins elaborate on something they were explaining to their husbands. "Of course, Hermione may just accomplish more than all of us combined. Your little girl has an exceptional mind. She's going to excel at absolutely anything she chooses to do."

"Talked with her for more than three seconds then, did you?" Emma teased, both women chuckling. "I suppose it's a good thing she is a special sort," she conceded, watching her daughter with the twins.

"I know this is going to sound strange from someone who doesn't know her or your family well, and I'll warn you I can't explain it for various reasons, but I promise you that they're perfect together and will only bring out the best in each other. I know for a fact that nothing will tear them apart, because the worst already hasn't," Cassie assured the muggle woman quite seriously. "I'd also appreciate it if you didn't mention that to Hermione. She'd have far too many questions I can't answer until she's had more schooling and understands magic better."

"Are you some kind of psychic?" Emma asked, remembering that those kinds of things were real in the magical world.

"No, I just have some very specialized training and have met some very interesting people," Cassie told her, grinning slightly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Probably not," Emma agreed, following the group into the bookstore Hermione was already out of sight in.

By the time they got to the Hogwarts Express, Hermione had already read through two of the five books she had convinced her parents to buy her at her new favorite store ever. All of them were on magical bonds or the origin of magic in people. She knew what she wanted and somehow knew exactly where the books she needed would be found. Fred had also disappeared into the store, directing George to books on one thing while he pursued something else. Draco and Harry had teased her about being able to automatically find her way around any bookstore she entered, but the blonde boy had started watching her a bit more closely when he noticed Fred had as well. It was uncanny how whatever it was she looked for seemed to be in exactly the spot she looked for it and Fred seemed to be having the same experience. Draco knew neither of them had ever been to this store - both had said as much on the way there - but both went through it like they were frequent customers.

The more he thought of it, the more he realized something like that happened frequently. She would pick up spells and transfigurations quickly the first time as if she'd done them dozens of times before. She always knew what book she needed for what essay and not only where the book was, but where the information she needed was in it. Even that first week at Hogwarts, whenever they didn't know where to go, she had instinctively known how to get there. And while they were with the Prewetts, sometimes the adults would talk about something that had happened years ago during the war and both Fred and Hermione seemed to be able to fill in blanks with it. He was quieter than usual on the trip to Hogwarts, watching his best friend and wondering what he was missing. He'd be blunt and just ask, but didn't think she noticed she did those things.

At least not until they reached the carriages. When approaching them, Hermione had stopped dead, staring into the blank space in front of them with a combination of horror, wonder, and confusion. Draco had watched, trying to be subtle about it, following Harry and Neville into a carriage with Daphne, Tracey, and Anthony.

"I can see them too, it's nothing to worry about," he heard Fred tell her as he started to climb into the carriage.

"But they're...who...it's impossible," she sputtered quietly as she let Fred lead her into the carriage behind his while shushing her.

When the first years were brought in for the sorting, Draco decided to test his theory a bit further and asked Hermione where Colin would be sorted. She had laughed and told him the boy would of course be a Gryffindor, and laughed harder when she was proven right. After that he had made a game of guessing where each first year would go. The students around them joined in, all of them laughing and having fun with it, and none of them noticing Hermione was right every single time. Waiting until the feast got underway and everyone was distracted, he finally asked her what pulled the carriages.

"Thestrals," she finally told him after stopping mid-chew and letting her mouth drop open in shock, then finishing her bite slowly while eyeing him critically.

"It doesn't say so in Hogwarts, A History," he pointed out. "I know you saw them, I saw you and Fred when I was getting in my carriage. You didn't expect them. And once you identified them, you didn't know why you were seeing them."

"No, I didn't," she agreed cautiously. "I've never seen anyone die to my knowledge, unless you count movies."

"Which I don't, otherwise every muggleborn would see them and start asking questions," he pointed out. "You knew who would be sorted where. Every single student."

"No I...I suppose I did," she mused, having initially thought to brush off what was statistically almost impossible. "It's almost like I already knew."

"Like with the bookstore and all our lessons last year and the stories about the war," Draco pushed, watching her mind race as she tried to connect the dots.

"Is there some kind of weird magical skill that would do that? You know, like how Dora's a metamorphmagus?" she asked, still trying to work it out.

"Not that I've ever heard of. So you didn't notice any of this?"

"No, I hadn't. But now that I have…" she trailed off, chewing on her lip and playing with the charm on the necklace she never took off. "Can we keep this between us? At least until we figure it out?" she whispered, eyes darting back and forth to make sure no one was listening.

"If you want, but you should probably mention it to Fred as well."

"Fred?"

"He does some of the same weird things you do."

"And can see the thestrals too…" she trailed off again, eyes drifting over to the Gryffindor table where Fred was sitting. "And then there was that weird dream last Christmas…"

"What dream?" Draco asked, alarmed, but she ignored him, still staring at Fred.

"I wonder what it means," she mused, getting a concerned look from Fred once he met her gaze and smiled over at her, only to be perturbed by her absent expression.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Hermione's second year progressed quickly. She had Draco's renewed enthusiasm concerning her research on magical bonds after a few weeks of paying close attention to the shared little idiosyncrasies she and Fred showcased. The two of them had decided quickly that it was something to do with the strange bond she felt between her and Fred as well as other random things throughout the magical world. Unbeknownst to Hermione, Draco had also started looking for a reference or picture of the strange amulet she wore and tended to fidget with when in deep thought about their new project. He had taken a rather close look at it while she distracted by a charms essay one evening and even tried to sense magic in it - which it held in spades. Having grown up in a magical ancestral manor with all sorts of magical artifacts around, he knew how to feel for them and what they felt like by now. The magic in her amulet was strong, but strange to him, almost foreign. He shrugged off her curiosity at his newfound interest in foreign relics claiming an interest in traveling the magical side of the world and expanding his wealth once he came of age and was expected to handle the Malfoy estate himself. Surely some foreign artifacts would increase the value of his ancestral collection, he insisted, much to her amusement.

Harry was less of a fixture with the Ravenlaw second years than he had been the year before. Though he and Ron still hadn't patched things up, he was still being trained to take Oliver Wood's place as quidditch captain once the boy graduated the next year and had found he got on remarkably well with Ron's younger sister Ginny. He and Dean Thomas also had a much closer friendship after having spent a few days together over the summer, and the two were often seen exploring the grounds with Ginny Weasley and her new friend Colin Creevey while their roommates Seamus and Ron mostly stuck to the tower and larger groups of Gryffindors. Colin wanted to photodocument the entire castle and grounds, something the artist and fellow muggleborn Dean also had an interest in. He was known to sketch out different views and places in the castle while Colin rested between taking an ridiculous amount of photos or sketch out photos of Colin's in the quidditch stands while the easily tired boy pointed out particularly interesting details to include while Harry helped Ginny with her flying.

What had started as pity for the small boy, whose health had stabilized, but not really improved, after a few weeks of living in the castle, had turned into a real friendship based on a shared artistic eye and wonder at the magic around them. That's how Colin had joined Dean and Draco's magic as an energy source research. Draco claimed the boy's enthusiasm made him tired himself, but also admitted that it made up for his lack of magical knowledge and that an outside set of eyes was helpful.

Mealtimes were often punctuated with people turning colors, breaking into song and/or dance, and turning into a bevy of animals. The dinner and show didn't happen every night, though, which meal, day, and affected house changed so randomly even Dumbledore was regularly surprised by whatever happened. The second year Ravenclaws never knew when or what would happen, but knew it was the ever expanding line of products the twins were creating mostly because many of them helped with the research. Much to their chagrin, that did not actually keep them from becoming victims of said pranks, but they were victimised far less frequently than most groups in the school and breathed much easier knowing how unlikely it was for them to be harmed at all, much less permanently. Once word got out that they were using Ravenclaw research and development assistants, the school had breathed a collective sigh of relief and took the pranks in mostly good humor. Even Professor McGonagall seemed a little less concerned, knowing that they were taking the student's safety into account to some degree.

Ravenclaw's first match of the season was against Gryffindor a week after Halloween. Neville, Colin, Ginny, and Dean came to join Hermione, Draco, Padma, and their Ravenclaw friends in their stands, though the three Gryffindors and lone Hufflepuff wore red and gold to support Harry and the twins. There was much good-natured ribbing when they arrived in their festive colors, Anthony Goldstein teasing Neville in particular for supporting a house other than his own and then sitting in their opponent's stands. Neville had quipped that yellow was easier to charm gold than bronze, gaining a loud gale of laughter and a hearty clap on the back from the boy, who pulled Neville down into the seat next to him to watch.

"Are you supporting Gryffindor today, Hermione?" the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood piped up as she took the seat beside her. Luna had gotten sorted into Ravenclaw after a rather long time under the sorting hat and didn't seem to get on with the others in her year regardless of their house. She had a slight friendship with Ginny, due to living over the hill from the Burrow, and thus Colin now, but seemed the odd man out.

There was a sizeable contingent of Ravenclaws from all years that seemed overly critical of the strange girl with her dreamy manner and penchant for explaining everything as the work of creatures that were quite possibly imaginary. Hermione was a bit put off by the girl's creature talk, but felt a strong pull to her both magically and personally. She knew what it was like to be different and bullied as a result and had taken the small girl under her wing, much to Padma's amusement and Draco's outspoken chagrin. He ranted about her picking up the strange and annoying, but his interactions with the girl spoke of an underlying affection he'd never admit to. His family may be reformed, but he was a Malfoy after all.

"I'm a Ravenclaw, Luna," Hermione reminded her with a slight grin.

"Are you really?" the girl asked, her silver eyes almost cutting into Hermione's soul and giving the girl pause to question something she had never really questioned since the sorting.

"Well, the hat offered me Gryffindor as well, but I'm quite happy where I am," she answered, suddenly unsure of herself. Luna had a habit of doing that to her quite unwittingly.

"This time," Luna agreed with a nod. "Regardless, there's the matter of Harry playing for Gryffindor...and Fred," she added, giving the Luna equivalent of a teasing sidelong glance.

"And it'd be nice to have something to hold over them, don't you think? A little bit of bragging rights? Besides, it's always nice to show the rest of the school we're capable of more than studying," Hermione assured her with a laugh as the game started and they directed their attention to the pitch.

Everyone else's increased teasing about Fred made her turn bright red and stumble over her words. Something about Luna teasing her over a boy just put a smile on her face. It didn't happen often, but every once in awhile the girl did or said something completely typical for a girl her age without warning. Ginny once confided that she had been far more normal when they were smaller, still a bit vague and dreamy, but not to the point of oddness she had now. After her mother had died in a charms experiment, the girl had drawn into herself and seemed to live in a fantasy world, according to the youngest Weasley. Hermione smelled "coping mechanism" in the explanation, but let any concerns about it slip away bit by bit the closer she got to the strange girl. Strange though she may be, she was undoubtedly a good friend to Hermione and as concerned for her welfare as she was for Luna's.

Ravenclaw was soundly beat in the game, but it was a fantastic game and Gryffindor didn't win by nearly as much as everyone had expected them to. Draco had insisted that it was because of Oliver Wood and Harry. Ravenclaw had an equally strong chaser line and the only beaters in the school who could possibly give Fred and George a run for their money, but Oliver was by far the best keeper in the school and Harry was only getting better in his second season. Their keeper wasn't bad, he claimed, quite the opposite even, Oliver was just in a higher class of competition.

Their seeker, however, left a lot to be desired. Harry had gotten the snitch easily exactly when he chose from about an arm's length away from their seeker, who hadn't seen it at all. Draco claimed Harry had seen the snitch several times during the game and waited to get the point advantage until he thought his competition couldn't possibly miss it. He was a reserve chaser this year despite wanting the seeker position because their reserve seeker, gossipy third year Cho Chang, had managed to win the spot against him in tryouts. Of course, even Cho, despite her gloating, admitted that if the starting seeker had been forced to try out instead of just handed the spot he had never been that great at, her and Draco would be the ones with claim to the position. Others claimed her beating Draco had been blind luck - they were fairly evenly matched and Draco was even a stronger flyer - but the snitch had turned up right in front of her at try outs.

Despite the loss, the Ravenclaws cheered good naturedly for the Gryffindor team that had legitimately played the better game. Hermione took her time making her way back to the castle, even stopping to watch the thestrals flying over the forest with Luna for a bit before heading towards the entrance the Gryffindor team usually used. Hearing familiar voices up ahead, she picked up her pace, skipping a bit towards the corner of the building in her high mood on such a great day, thinking of seeing if the twins, Lee, and Harry wanted to spend some time by the lake that afternoon after congratulating them. She slowed to a stop as she approached the corner and realized she was walking into a private conversation.

"No, I mean it, that goal was amazing! You don't give yourself enough credit sometimes. You're just as good as Angelina and way better than Katie. So what if they got a steal or two? Happens to every chaser every game," Fred was reassuring his teammate.

"I guess," she conceded, sighing a bit. "You're always so sweet when I'm feeling down."

"I'm a Weasley twin, cheering people up comes with the territory," he joked, earning a giggle.

"I suppose it does. Do you think maybe…" she trailed off for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing. "There's a Hogsmeade visit next weekend. I'd love to buy you a butterbeer to thank you for being so supportive. Would you like to go? With me?"

Hermione held her breath with the older girl around the corner, everything seeming to slow down and fade around her. She knew she shouldn't be eavesdropping, but couldn't seem to step around the corner to greet the two Gryffindors or make herself turn around and walk away. Especially without knowing Fred's answer.

"Hogsmeade?" he finally asked, his tone painting his surprised expression in Hermione's mind. "I...uh...well…" he stumbled for an answer for a moment and she knew he was turning as red as she did every time someone teased her about her friendship with him. "You know what? Yeah, ok, that sounds like fun," he agreed.

Hermione wasn't sure what she had been about to do or say, but as she opened her mouth and picked up her foot to step around the corner to say it, a hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her back away from the side entrance to the castle. Fred and Alicia's voices were fading down the corridor as the grip around her waist slackened. She spun around quickly, furious as being restrained like that, to see Draco taking a step back, watching her carefully and looking entirely unrepentant.

"Before you start, there was absolutely nothing you could or would have said there that would have made anything better," he insisted. "In fact, you probably only would have made yourself, and Fred, feel worse. This is one of those things you're going to have to let lie. Once you walk away a bit and think on it, you'll want to thank me for stopping you."

"Who said there was anything to make better?" she asked, quickly switching tactics. "There's nothing wrong with two fourth years agreeing to a Hogsmeade date."

"Even Fred?" he asked, a bit of concern bleeding into his eyes.

"Even Fred," she insisted, forcing her voice to come out normally even though it felt like her heart was doused in ice water and the cold was spreading out through her veins as she said it. "He's his own person and there's no reason he can't take whatever girl he fancies to Hogsmeade," she tried to wave off his concern, but her voice cracked a bit towards the end.

"I'm sure he'd be taking you if you were allowed," Draco tried to reassure her.

"Is that what you think this is?" she managed to ask, trying to sound casual and amused. "I'm not jealous of Alicia. Fred can fancy whomever he likes, it doesn't affect me in the least," she waved off his concern with cracking resolve. "I don't have any claim on him. Who even says I fancy him?"

"Hermione, this is me you're talking to. If you're going to lie, you'll have to do better than that. Like you'd ever have to tell me who you fancy for me to figure it out," he scoffed a bit, his expression falling when the teasing didn't cheer her up and tears began welling up in her eyes instead. "Oh, bollocks. Hermione, don't cry. He didn't even ask her - she asked him."

"But he said yes," she argued, a few tears slipping through as Draco lead her away from the castle and towards the lake.

"Only after thinking on it a good long while and talking himself into it. Do you think for one second he'd hesitate in saying yes if you asked? I know for a fact no one, neither himself or anyone else, would have to talk him into it," he reassured her as they reached one of their favorite trees to sit under.

"But what if by the time I can ask him, they're already serious? What if...what if he ends up loving her instead?" she asked, knowing she sounded pathetic, but unable to stop the words from coming out once she started.

"He won't. He's yours and you're his even if neither of you realize it," Luna's dreamy voice piped up as the small first year settled down on Hermione's side and leant her head on the older girl's shoulder.

"You sound very certain about that," Draco tried to sound casual, but the look he shot her was a warning.

"I am certain about that. As it was before, it will be now," she insisted, eyes going a bit out of focus as if she were trying to see something deep inside her own head. "You've always been the one for him and he for you, just like last time. Sometimes the wrackspurts get in the way, though, and make Fred forget. He may be lost right now, but he'll remember before too long and make his choice," she assured her, causing the girl's attention to snap in her direction.

"He'll make his choice?" she asked, half forgotten dreams swimming to the surface of her mind.

"A choice must be made, after all," she agreed, tilting her head to the side in contemplation. "Of course, I suppose when it comes to you, there's never really been a choice for him. Your aura's are too intertwined, woven together through time and space."

"You're getting into the weird stuff again, Luna," Draco warned her, smiling slightly at her none the less. "And now you've got her all nervous and distant."

"Maybe she just has a few things she needs to think on," the smaller girl argued, sticking her tongue out at Draco before settling back into Hermione's other side. The three Ravenclaws spent a good portion of the afternoon just sitting outside under that tree until the wind picked up enough to cut through their winter cloaks and chase them back inside.

Later that night Fred Weasley awoke abruptly, sweating and breathing heavily under his tangled crimson bedding. There was so much green. He remembered part of his dream now. The little girl in the hospital he had dreamed of all last year. Dahlia Potter. Who had died. Was that the choice he had to make? Did he somehow, unwillingly, resign a little girl to her death? Why couldn't he remember the rest of his dream?

Groaning in frustration after checking the time, he straightened his sheets and blankets and laid down to stare at the ceiling of the canopy. He wished he could talk to Hermione about this - she was good at analyzing strange sorts of things like this. He had hesitated last Christmas in telling her much about the dream and something had stopped him every time he had considered it since, but he could really use her calm and logic right now handed over in warm tones with a small smile. For not the first time, he cursed the fact that she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. There was no way to talk to her this late, so no way her warmth and calm could help him put this out of his mind so he could go back to sleep.

That is, if she'd even talk to him. He had been late to dinner because he had been looking for her. After the game, he had walked up to Gryffindor Tower with Alicia, who he supposed he was taking to Hogsmeade next weekend now, though he wasn't certain why he agreed to it. After a quick shower and change, he had headed to the library to find Hermione and see if she wanted to spend some time outside seeing as it had been such a beautiful day. But she wasn't in the library. Or the great hall. Or back at the quidditch pitch. Harry and Ginny hadn't seen her, neither had Neville, Susan, or Padma. Realizing he hadn't come across Draco or that odd little firstie she'd been spending so much time with either, he had wandered the grounds for quite some time seeking out all their usual haunts. By the time he had given up looking, George and Lee had tracked him down to go to dinner.

She had been there. But she had been at the Ravenclaw table surrounded by Draco, Padma, and that strange first year girl Ginny knew. Hermione had sat with Ravenclaw last night and this morning. Then had skipped lunch. Her usual routine had her sitting with Gryffindor. She made eye contact when he walked in and stopped to look for her, but quickly looked away again immediately. He was about to head over and sit with her, with or without George and Lee, when Alicia came in behind him and lead him over to the Gryffindor table by the arm, all smiles. He greeted his teammate and looked over to Hermione again as he sat down next to her, but she was gone. He found her as she slipped out of the Great Hall, almost at a run, and his questioning glance to Draco was met only with a glare. After a quick word to a confused Padma, the girl also shot him a dirty look before standing and rushing after her roommate.

Fred didn't know what he had done, but resolved to ask Harry about it in the morning. Hermione was upset with him and it was clearly something he had done to hurt her judging by the looks her Ravenclaw friends were giving him. She couldn't help him now from Ravenclaw Tower regardless, but probably wouldn't anyway had she been here. She had hidden in her tower all night after leaving her dinner behind. He knew that for a fact. After a hurried meal, he had checked the library again, wandered the corridors between their two towers, and even stopped by the kitchens, where the elves, and later Tracey and Daphne (with oddly judging looks) had told him she wasn't there and had been in the tower all night. If he couldn't solve his dream problem, the very least he could do would be to sort out what he had done to upset her so much. He would figure it out and he would fix it. Maybe then the giant that decided to sit on his chest when he started thinking about her would bugger off.


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE:

Hermione continued to ignore and avoid Fred as best she could through the rest of the term. After an unusually stressful week of being entirely unsure of why she was upset with him, he found himself looking forward to his date with Alicia. He hadn't realized how much he had depended on Hermione's calming influence and the satisfaction gained from making her smile, but without it, he found himself grouchy and short tempered, edging towards the reckless side of his Gryffindor nature more and more. Alicia helped, though. She wasn't his best friend, but making a pretty girl smile and laugh was making a pretty girl smile and laugh. So he let their date develop into a relationship. George and Lee were slightly concerned with his less cautious approach to their experiments and the way he completely disregarded his studies, which, until now, he had been the one in the group championing the importance of. While avoiding him, Hermione had also cut down on her time with George and Lee. They tried to reign in Fred's destructive side best they could, but had trouble not only with his strong force of will, but the fact that they both were enjoying the reckless pranking despite the ridiculous number of detentions they were building up and number of house points they were all losing.

The rest of Gryffindor enjoyed the effects of the pranks, mostly on Slytherins at this point, increasing the house rivalry that had mostly calmed to friendly since the war ended over a decade ago. However, they were concerned for their standing for the house cup that was dropping rapidly. Harry could only hold off a win on the quidditch pitch for so long, the chasers could only score so many goals, and even Oliver Wood couldn't save every quaffle. Plus, they didn't have anyone who routinely racked up points in class with only a token effort like the Ravenclaws did in Hermione, Draco, and Padma. By the time winter break arrived, Gryffindor was dead last in the standings and dropping. Only a miracle would have them finish the year anything above third and only reigning in the Weasley twins and Lee would get them even that far.

Ravenclaw, however, took advantage of the situation like they had the previous year. As Gryffindor dropped in standing, Ravenclaw soared to new heights. They couldn't count on their quidditch team, being the least likely of the four to win with their sub-par seeker, so the entire house banded together to rack up points the Ravenclaw way - stellar performance in class and extra credit assignments. Slytherin's tactic of egging on the twins didn't do them as well, and so Hufflepuff had taken the cue from Ravenclaw and took their natural inclination for a good work ethic to heart. Teachers appreciated correct answers, but they also appreciated those who went the extra mile. As Slytherin and Gryffindor battled it out, sinking in the standings, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw kept their rivalry a bit friendlier and even helped each other rise higher and higher. Draco, being Slytherin enough to have such an idea, had decided they should support each other in their efforts in class - the claw's natural aptitude for retaining knowledge teamed up with the puff's natural inclination towards hard work, now geared towards studying and joint extra credit projects, could only benefit them all.

One house could only compete against three so well, but two against two, especially two that got along against two who didn't, gave them a distinct advantage. Being a Ravenclaw, he pointed out that even if Hufflepuff won the competition, they would have learned so much more with their allies than on their own and if knowledge truly was power, they would be the true winners in the end, house cup or no. The Claws were pleased with the idea for all the right reasons, as were the Puffs, who enjoyed their time in the light and being appreciated as a whole for what they had to offer.

Hermione, however, was becoming increasingly withdrawn. She was fulfilling everyone's initial worries as to what would happen should she be sorted into Ravenclaw. The number of meals she skipped increased steadily with the number of hours she put into studying. Harry managed to pull her away from it occasionally, but not enough. He found himself relying more and more on Draco's ability to bully her into bed at a semi-decent hour and Luna's calming influence to keep her from going off the nut. Even Liam had sent him a worried note, asking if she was ok because her notes were getting shorter and harder to follow. When confronted with this, she put more effort into her notes to him, but didn't let it take from her study time, leaving her short tempered and frazzled due to lack of sleep.

Padma reported that she woke her up multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times a night, with nightmares. As worried as she was for her roommate, she had her own studies and had been ordered by her parents to take her sister to task as well so that she wouldn't have to be tutored that summer and they could take a real holiday without interrupting her schooling. The only upside to Padma's inability to help, Harry decided, that was Parvati was becoming a surprisingly consistent source of points for Gryffindor, particularly in the classes they didn't share with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, and even her roommate Lavender's grades and point earning had improved due to their time spent together.

By the time they reached Hogsmeade station to go home for the holidays, Hermione had become pale and almost shrunken. By skipping so many meals, she had lost more weight than she could really afford to leaving her robes hanging off her and her sleepless nights spent studying had left dark circles under her eyes further accentuated by the waxy pallor her skin had taken on. She looked dead on her feet and supremely grateful for the break, despite the fact it had taken the combined efforts of Draco, Harry, Padma, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Colin, Dean, and Susan Bones to convince her to go home for the holidays rather than staying at the school to fit in more studying to prepare for the spring term. The only upside anyone could see was that after midterms, she was so far ahead of everyone in the standings, even beating Neville in herbology and Harry in defence, that she could essentially do nothing the rest of the year and still be top in every class. And by do nothing, they meant get no better than E's on every assignment and test (Padma had done the maths and Draco had confirmed it), which would, essentially, be literally no effort for her.

Fred saw her properly up close for the first time in weeks as he, Lee, George, Alicia, and Angelina got out of the carriage they had shared on the way to the station. It literally stopped him in his tracks. After a couple weeks in which he couldn't figure out why she was upset, he had learned to get by without her presence, and even welcomed it at times, knowing she wouldn't approve of everything he and his twin were pulling against the school and student body. If she didn't know, she couldn't stop him, he figured, and enjoyed the free pass on the school. Luna and Harry were arguing about something from either side of her as they boarded the train, but the smiles both of them were wearing and Hermione was weakly copying on her pale face said that it was all in jest. He was about to push forward and follow them into the compartment they were entering when he was bodily stopped by Draco Malfoy as well as both Padma and Parvati Patil standing in front of him.

"It's best you and your girlfriend get your own compartment," Padma offered, taking the lead before Draco could.

"I just want to see if she's ok," he argued, frowning at her and looking to Draco for an answer. "She looks awful. Is she sick or something?"

"Not yet. She's just skipping every second or third meal and studying all hours of the night instead of sleeping. You know, the stuff you promised you'd help me keep her from that first night last year," Draco reminded him, a pink tinge showing up on the older boy's face even as he got irritated by the accusation.

"So keeping me from her now is going to help me hold up my end of that bargain, is it?" he asked, smirking at the blonde.

"You're ignoring your girlfriend, Fred. We'll take care of Hermione, you worry about your girl," Parvati pointed out, gesturing behind him to where Alicia was sticking her head out of another compartment, waiting to see if he was joining them.

"What's it to you? You and Hermione aren't even friends, Parvati!"  
"Shows what you know," Draco scoffed as the younger Gryffindor bristled.

"I'll have you know that Hermione's been at Padma's side the whole time she's been trying to help me keep my grades up this term. She owed me nothing and had no reason to be nice to or help me, Merlin knows I was nasty enough to her behind her back about stupid things like her hair, but she helped me regardless. Because she is friends with Padma and it was important to her that I do well in school. Anyone - anyone - who will put that much time and effort to help my twin sister, especially to their own detriment, deserves my respect and loyalty at the absolute very least," she insisted, eyes narrowing as her magic started to crackle around the ends of her hair and fingers.

"Parv, it's ok," Padma tried calming her down as Fred took a step back.

"No, it needs to be said," she insisted, turning back to the redhead. "Her bad health is entirely your fault. The rest of us have been trying to help her for weeks and you, her supposed best friend, just buggered off with his new girlfriend and abandoned her for a snog! Well, it's not your responsibility anymore, Fred Weasley, her friends will take care of this."

"It's not like that! She was avoiding me for a good week or so before Alicia and I got together! She avoided me!" he insisted, his face reddening with trademark Weasley anger.

"And did you ever ask why?" Padma asked, still keeping her voice calm and reasonable.

"She was avoiding me! How am I supposed to ask her anything if she disappears whenever she's within a hundred yards of me?" he demanded, causing Draco to laugh mirthlessly.

"You're Fred Weasley. You know all the secrets of the castle, have her schedule memorized, and an uncanny ability to find any and everyone you feel like at any time and you're telling me you couldn't track down your best friend to ask what was wrong? I'm not half as good as you, but the Slytherin/Hufflepuff game two weeks ago would have served my purposes," he pointed out.

"She wasn't even there! I looked!"

"Because she was in the library! Like she is every single day! Quite literally studying herself to death!" Draco finally shouted back. "If you knew her even a little you would've guessed that! But instead of taking the initiative, you glanced around and then spent the time cuddling up with your girlfriend at a quidditch match!"

"What's so wrong with me having a girlfriend? Alicia and I get on quite well, you know, and I don't recall Hermione ever having had a problem with her," Fred glared back at Draco in challenge.

"Nothing. So long as you don't leave your friends behind for her. With just that one game, you ranked both quidditch and your girlfriend over your friendship with Hermione you're claiming to be so concerned with now. Countless times in the last several weeks, you've put her behind things like pranking and quidditch and other people instead of seeking her out to talk. I'll admit, I thought she was being ridiculous in the way only a girl can be at first, but you've proven her right and made no effort whatsoever to maintain a friendship you claimed was one of the most important things in your life!"

Fred was still bristling with anger, but closed his mouth before retorting, knowing Draco had a point. Draco sighed heavily, shaking off his own indignation, before continuing. He didn't really mind having his best friend all to himself for once, but this wasn't the way.

"Look, I know you're aware of where you've gone wrong now and that she started it by being silly. Talk to her over the break. Without Alicia or George or Lee or even me or Harry. Figure it out. Fix it. But not now. You'll never get the privacy you need to fix a friendship on the Hogwarts Express. Let it lie for a bit longer, I'll..." he paused and looked to the Patil twins when Parvati cleared her throat and Padma raised an eyebrow with a pointed look, "we'll take care of her in the meantime and then she'll be home with her parents and Harry and Liam, who you know care about her well being more than anyone else on earth. Just sort this by New Year's - I'm not having your disagreement ruin my mother's party. For my own sanity."

Fred nodded after a moment of trying to stare the younger boy down. Draco, however, didn't flinch, he was the Malfoy heir, after all, and it took more than an angry Weasley to make him back down. The train had been moving for a while at that point, so Fred turned back to the compartment Alicia had been looking out from earlier. George, somewhat grateful that an intervention of sorts was happening, had pulled her back in to let it happen. He had enjoyed the reckless abandon they had taken to their pranking the past several weeks, but knew he needed more backup to reign Fred in and their irresponsibility was only hurting their house and, more importantly, their future business. They had edged into bullying more than he was really comfortable with and if it took Draco bleeding Malfoy telling his brother off to make him reconsider their actions, he'd take it. George had already done a lot of reconsidering on his own and needed Fred to be on board so they could get on track with their productive pranking once more and be ready to open shop when they graduated.

"Draco? Padma? Oh, hi, Parvati," Hermione stuck her head into the hall, looking for her friends. "What on earth are you three still doing out here? We left Hogsmeade like fifteen minutes ago - the trolley won't be along for a while yet. Are you sitting with us this time, Parvati?"

"Yeah, I think I will," she agreed, following her sister and Draco to the almost-full compartment. It was a tighter squeeze than she was normally comfortable with, but it was nice spending time with her sister and her friends doing something other than studying. "So, have you all got your robes for the Malfoy gala or are you doing muggle attire again this year? My mum was asking and neither Padma or I knew," she started off the conversation with a huge grin, knowing she'd have to fill Lavender in on what everyone was planning before they went shopping themselves.

Dan and Emma Granger were not amused when they saw their daughter get off the train at King's Cross. They recognized the sunken look to her eyes, paleness of her skin, and the way her clothes were swallowing her too well. It was the same state she worked herself into every time she decided to run from some social issue by burying herself into her studies. They had made her change schools once because of it, moving to the other side of town so she was in a different district, and had been considering moving to a different place altogether two years before she went to Hogwarts. Maybe Manchester to be closer to Emma's parents. She had been saved by Harry joining her in school and calming her down.

Emma laid a hand on Dan's arm, cutting off the rant he was sure to be giving both his daughter and Harry when she saw the boy in question right at Hermione's side, something she hadn't expected from her initial assessment of her daughter. Draco, Padma, Neville, a little blonde girl she guessed was the Luna Hermione had written about, and a girl who could only be Padma's twin were with them as well. She watched Hermione share hugs with all of them as well as the youngest Weasley son and girl and the poor boy with cancer, before heading their way, but where were the twins? They always were the last to say goodbye, not Draco, who gave her an extra long hug before waving to the Grangers as he met his mother by the floos.

"Harry! Hermione!" Liam shouted as they got closer, bolting through the crowd to hug his siblings.

"What do you think happened? Her letters have been strange, but I thought going to school with Harry had fixed this," Dan asked quietly.

"Something else…" Emma mused as she watched the two youngest Weasleys join up with their family near the floos, their mother, Prefect brother, and the twins with...who was that girl who was kissing one of the twins? "Oh no...Dan, let me handle this one, ok?" she asked, pieces suddenly falling into place. "I know you mean well, but this is something she's going to need her mother for."

"Are you sure?" he asked, following her gaze to the redheads preparing to leave. "Isn't that the boy she's so fond of? One of the twins? Oh…" he trailed off with a grimace. "Sure you don't want me to have a word with him?"

"You can't force people to feel the way you want them to," she admonished. "Hermione just isn't as good with social situations as most kids her age. We'll talk. It'll get better, I promise. Some things a girl just needs her mother for."

He was only able to nod in agreement, and a little bit of relief, before smiling at the kids as they reached them. There were hugs all around, even for Lee Jordan, who was joining them through the barrier to meet his mother, as per usual. James was unable to take off work until the holiday, so the Grangers had closed the practice for the week leading up to Christmas and through the holiday. James was able to get the week after off, and then it would only be a week of the kids having to take care of themselves. Seeing the state of their daughter, they immediately knew they were going to make this a busy week and would encourage James to do the same next week, forcing Hermione to wait until the last week of the holidays to dive back into her schoolwork. From experience, they knew that forcing her away from the books for a couple weeks would make her re-assess what she had been doing and would hopefully let her get back to the better balance she had found after Halloween the previous year.

The Granger's holiday plans started immediately. Dan and Emma had invited Lee and his mother to supper with them in London, telling the children they had some Christmas shopping to get done that evening while in the city and claiming the need for a good meal before getting started. Pleasantly surprised, Mrs. Jordan stopped at a payphone to call her husband, who, being the wizard in the family, joined them outside the Leaky Cauldron a few minutes later. From there, the two families enjoyed their meal at a muggle Italian restaurant near the street entrance to the Ministry Lee's dad frequented on his lunch breaks and swore was the best in the city before parting ways. The Grangers also kept their eyes open for other options and had decided a trip to the ballet in the coming days would be perfect. Trips to London took a good amount of time out of the day and they hadn't been to see The Nutcracker in years and was sure the Potters never had. James worked in the city and could easily join them for the evening after his shift and it was something that would divert Hermione's attention from her studies effectively - she loved the ballet.

The Black, Malfoy, and Tonks clans actually joined them two nights later for the ballet. James, who was rather enthusiastic about the idea because it was something Lily always wanted to do as a family but something always had come up, had mentioned it to Sirius at work, who had pretty much invited his family along because he knew it was the sort of thing his wife and daughter loved. When he told them about it, his wife had suggested mentioning it to Narcissa, who would probably enjoy a night out at the ballet as well, especially considering her new hobby of exploring the muggle world. After a quick word with the Grangers to make sure they were ok with it, Narcissa had agreed to come with Draco and invited her sister and her family.

When all was said and done, three Grangers, three Potters, four Blacks, two Malfoys, and the three Tonks all met at the Leaky Cauldron and were joined by Luna Lovegood, whose father couldn't get away from work at the moment, but insisted she not miss an outing with her friends on his account. It had actually been Draco's idea to include her and Hermione had agreed and begged her parents to invite her new friend. Luna didn't get out much, even into the wizarding world, and Hermione thought she'd really enjoy a muggle ballet, not to mention being included.

She, and Hermione had earned some questioning and slightly judgemental glances through dinner from those who hadn't met her, but Luna had gained new friend in Sirius Black, who thought she was just the most entertaining kid he had met in forever and really got a kick out of her. Ted Tonks also seemed enchanted with her, going as far as telling her that she was the embodiment of what muggleborns found so amazing about magic. Hermione wasn't so sure that was entirely complimentary, but Luna seemed happy enough to hear it, so she let it go without comment. Narcissa, Andi, and Emily, Sirius's equally pureblood wife, didn't seem to know what to make of Luna. Narcissa in particular was a bit concerned with the invitation she had sent the girl for her and her family to come to the New Year's ball, suddenly realizing that she had invited the strangest side of the press wizarding Britain had to offer. Hermione had jumped in, insisting Luna join them the next day on their now annual outing to purchase their attire for said ball, calming some of Narcissa's fears.

The ballet itself was lovely and wonderfully done. Hermione enjoyed herself immensely, despite being between Harry and Liam, who were both horrified at the men in tights aspect. Draco, who had actually been to quite a few ballets in the wizarding world in his youth with his mother and grandmother, finally insisted that if they couldn't handle the visual, to close their eyes and enjoy the music, which was world class, and pretend to be cultured and high class like the Potter heirs should be from Harry's other side, much to Hermione's amusement and relief. All in all, it was one of the best night's Hermione had experienced in a long while and kicked off a much merrier Christmas season for the Crawley clan than the previous year had been.

Though concerned about her obvious coping mechanisms indicating probable mental issues, the Grangers had welcomed Luna into the fold graciously, and even invited her over for the night. After a quick stop to her home in Ottery St. Catchpole, she and James reappeared at the Potter's house and walked across the back garden to the Granger's where Hermione was waiting for her friend, having already set up the guest room. The two girls hurried upstairs, chatting excitedly about their night and the planned shopping trip tomorrow, laughing the whole way. It brought smiles to the elder Granger's faces, which fell slightly as James cleared his throat and asked if they fancied a drink or a cuppa before bed.

James Potter was a rather tolerant man, despite his attitude in his youth. Lily had made certain of that and raising half blooded children as heirs to a noble house had only reinforced it. One thing he did not tolerate was mistreated children. Being a father who did not come to those skills naturally, he also understood the difficulties of raising any child, particularly a magical one, and losing his wife had made him sympathetic to how important those children become afterwards, how deeply you love them. There was no doubt in his mind, as he assured the Grangers, that Xenophilius Lovegood loved his daughter very deeply, and the girl seemed to be just as attached to her father as he was to her.

That being said, Luna was clearly not being raised in a healthy environment. For one, her mother's ghost may as well have been a real thing in that house. James understood what losing a beloved spouse could do to a man and their children, but instead of trying to keep her memory alive and moving on, the Lovegoods seemed to carry on as if Pandora had just gone out to the shops and they were waiting for her to return. There was a chair, dusty from disuse, that neither of them sat in and refused to allow guest in sitting in their living room, as well as one at their dining table that still had a third place set at it that didn't look like it had been moved or used since Pandora Lovegood had died. He hadn't gone to see, but would bet anything her side of the bed, closet, and dresser were left as they were last she used them as well.

Worse yet, Xenophilius had always been rather eccentric, but now he was allowing his eccentricities to take over and rule both his and his daughter's lives. James had known the man slightly in school - he was a Ravenclaw in the Prewett twins' year - and his late wife had been a Ravenclaw the year below him. In fact, if he remembered correctly, Cassie Prewett and Alice Longbottom had been fairly close with the girl and they had studied together sometimes. There was a lot of love in the household, so James didn't want to make any sort of official report, but Luna was lacking support and structure she needed to be able to interact with her peers and the world in general. Her coping mechanisms were clearly a result of never having an opportunity to properly mourn her mother's death or even acknowledging she was never coming back.

The three adults thought heavily on this while Emma made and brought hot chocolate up to the girls, reminding them they had to be up by nine, so they should get to bed soon. None of them wanted to get the government involved or break the two up, but something would have to be done about their home environment for Luna's benefit. They also weren't more than acquaintances with Xeno, so they didn't really know how to go about talking to him about how he was raising his daughter without it coming off as insulting. Finally Emma asked James if there was a way to contact Cassie and he smirked before sending off his stag patronus with a short message. A few minutes later there was a popping sound on the back porch and a knock on the back door.

"What seems to be the problem? Is Hermione alright?" Cassie asked as they let her in, looking slightly anxious for the girl.

"Hermione's fine. Mostly," Emma assured her. "Overworked herself a bit during the past term trying to deal with some personal and social issues she's not familiar with. We had a talk last night and she's got a much better outlook on the whole situation now, so I'm sure that will sort itself out."

"Mmm...well, she should be getting an owl from Fred in the morning if that'll help anything. The whole Weasley family's been over for the holidays since the kids got back. He's been working on a letter to her the past two days," she offered with a slight grin. "Well, if that's sorted, what can I help you with?"

"Do you remember Xenophilius Lovegood? Ravenclaw in Gideon's year? I think you were friendly with his wife," James started, catching onto Emma's plan.

"Pandora, yeah. She was a very good friend to me during some bad times. We weren't terribly close, but she was the furthest thing from judgemental and never asked questions you didn't want to answer. A very calm, steadying presence, really. We didn't keep in touch too well after graduating. Gideon and I went to her and Xeno's wedding. Actually, it was our trip to a bar afterwards that got me captured by death eaters. I heard they had a daughter, sent a gift and all, but we, Gideon especially, were soured to the idea of visiting after everything that had happened, even when the war had ended," she explained, frowning slightly. "I didn't tell him at the time, and he was furious about it after when he found out, but I went to her funeral. Xeno invited Benjy and I, wrote that he knew she always liked spending time with me and appreciated that we were two of the few people alive who respected her work. He was so heartbroken. He was always a bit odd, but he loved his girls with all he had, that much was clear."

"He's only gotten odder since," James offered, drawing her attention back from her memories. "And is raising his daughter alone mostly in isolation. They act like she's just out to the shops and will be coming back any time."

"Her daughter would be about Hogwarts age now...Hermione's friend?" she asked.

"And housemate. Apparently the other girls in the first year don't care for her much. Hermione told us in a letter earlier this year that she spends a lot of time in the second year commons with her, Padma, and Draco. Even bunked with her and Padma most nights," Emma told her.

"To be fair to the other girls, she is rather odd," Dan added, "Kind of vague and dreamy with this far off look. Talks about magical creatures Hermione claims probably aren't real, uses them to explain everything that happens around her. It's very off-putting in general, but when you put her in a group of pre-teen girls...well," he shrugged as Cassie's gaze narrowed a bit and she nodded.

"Professor Flitwick opened an unused room in the second year dorms for her to keep her things and sleep in about a month ago. Her things were disappearing from her own room. She claims it was something called nargles, but Hermione thinks her roommates were playing mean tricks on her," Emma added. "She talked to Professor Flitwick about it and her, Padma, and Draco keep an eye out for the poor girl, so things have calmed down alot since then. She says that Luna seems to be behaving a bit more normally as time goes on, but if it was her home situation causing her to disassociate with the rest of the world…"

"Going back every summer and break is only going to undo any progress she's made," Cassie finished, sighing. "Xeno's a good man. Odd and eccentric even by wizarding standards, but a good man. I know he loves his daughter absolutely and I'm assuming she's as attached to him if you haven't just alerted the DMLE?"

"Yeah, they mean the world to each other," James assured her. "It's as obvious as anything else we've told you. But with their isolation, no one's really noticed he's not giving her the environment she needs to learn to get by in the world. There won't always be someone else to take care of her and Hermione and her friends have their own personal problems they'll have to deal with. They won't be able to give her the attention she needs every time she needs it in the future. Just basic arithmancy there."

"You've met her, at least?"

"She's currently upstairs in Hermione's room, sharing hot chocolate and talking about the ballet she went to with us tonight," Emma assured her. "Tomorrow they're going shopping for gowns for New Years with Narcissa and Draco."

"She'll be staying through Christmas," James told them all, blushing and shuffling his feet a bit when the two Granger's looked at him in surprise. "I...er...asked Xeno what he was doing for the holiday and he didn't seem to remember it. No decorations or presents of anything. He was rather surprised and cursed himself a bit, saying he'd been very busy the past couple weeks. I offered to let her stay a few days so he could get his shopping done and invited them both to spend Christmas with us?"

"I suppose that's for the best. It'll be good to meet him at any account. After spending the holiday here, we may be able to bring up their home life," Emma decided after a moment of glaring at James for inviting unknown people into her home for Christmas.

"I'll stop by the Rookery with Benjy tomorrow. I was never close to Xeno, but he and Benji were friends in school. We'll make sure he gets his shopping done and you can reassure Cissy that he'll have appropriate robes for the gala, which he will remember to attend in a timely manner. Hopefully it'll be on it's way to being sorted by Christmas. I'll even have Fabian formally invite them both for Boxing Day and after like everyone else," she decided with a nod, standing to leave.

"Won't Gideon be, er, less than pleased with Xeno being invited?" James asked, earning a mischievous smirk in response as she turned from the back door.

"Gideon had an issue with me visiting them, technically, he didn't say anything about the other way around. Besides, Fabian's the head of house, so he's got final say on the guest list. A few words to Marlene about a young girl's well being and Fabian won't dare say no to me," she chuckled a bit as she walked out. "You were right to try and find a way around Ministry involvement with this, I think. I'll do what I can from my end, you keep an eye on the girl and see what you can do for her."

"Luna. Her name's Luna," Emma informed her with a slight frown that disappeared with the appearance of a soft smile on the other woman's face.

"That was Pandora's doing. I'll very much like to meet Luna...at a more appropriate hour. Speaking of irritating the men in our lives, if you think Hermione could do with someone completely removed from the equation, a neutral third party, perhaps you should take her around to McConnell's at Diagon Alley."

"The potions shop?!" Dan asked, narrowing his eyes in tandem with James, who had simultaneously asked, "Snape?!"

"No and yes," Cassie laughed. "No, I don't think she needs to take potions, unless you'd like to pick her up something to help with malnutrition or vitamin deficiencies to help her along physically. Ginny mentioned she had been missing meals and George claimed she looked too skinny. I was actually referring to the proprietor, Severus Snape. He shared a lot of Hermione's bad habits when he was in school and if this stress is what I'm assuming it is from a casual glance...well, Snape had quite a time pining after a close friend who was looking elsewhere too, though I imagine their situations will work out quite differently in the end," she disclosed with a pointed look at James. "At any account, he seems rather fond of her and a visit might cheer both of them up a bit, Merlin knows that sourpuss needs all the cheering he can get. See you all on Boxing Day!" she waved as she closed the door behind her, a small pop signalling her exit.

"Looks like we've acquired another stray," Dan deadpanned, making a face at his cooling tea.

"Yeah, but it's not the stray that'll benefit from me having to deal with Snape," James grumbled, waving a hand at all their cups to bring the brew back to temperature. "Might be best you take them or suggest Narcissa stop by with the lot tomorrow, she's always been friendly with him. Draco's godfather, if I recall, even. Snape and I got on well enough later in life in small doses with Lily as a buffer, but didn't exactly see eye to eye in school. Lily was...er….the close friend in question, see. At any account, some strays are useful," he pointed out with a smirk towards the now steaming tea.

"I'll have to remember that," Dan agreed, tipping his head in thanks to the other man while Emma went upstairs to check on the girls, who had both fallen asleep on Hermione's bed. Clearing away the empty mugs, taking off their shoes, and pulling a quilt over them both, she smiled at the scene before turning the light off and closing the door to rejoin her husband and adopted brother.

A/N: There is a purpose to this besides drama, I promise! I wanted to showcase that Fred and Hermione are essentially still the Fred and Hermione they were at this point in the original series. Yes, the changes to their childhoods changed them _a little_ , but they're still the reckless prankster and obsessive overachiever they were originally. Most of their changes come from the influence they have in each other's lives. If you remember in PoA, Hermione started driving herself round the bend with her studying without her best friends there to temper her obsessive tendencies. Sure, she had all those classes to worsen the situation, but I used the excuse of her being in a whole house of overachievers to create the same situation. Fred's not a bad or mean guy. He's a teenage boy who got asked on a date by a pretty girl he has fun with. George also tended to be just slightly more prudent than Fred in the original works, not as much of an instigator. I know this is a pretty common thing in fandom, but it's insinuated well enough to use as a basis of personality in the published works. Notice I said slightly. He's still willing, and even eager, to go along with reckless pranking that's borderline bullying, but has more misgivings about it than Fred does. Due to his being willing and eager, he's not in a position to talk Fred down on his own, but can see where it could be harmful to their future, so takes a step back to let someone else do it for both their sake's.

As for Luna: I thought long and hard on this and decided I'd intervene with her oddness. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Luna. She's one of my favorite characters in the series, hands down, no contest. I'm not looking to take away what makes her so special and unique only...temper it a bit. As much as I loved her for being an oddball, her father didn't really raise her to be able to interact with the world. She grew up mostly isolated and only seemed to get her father's attention and encouragement when she followed his own odd way of life, leading her to reject the world as a whole in favor of pulling his attention from his work. He clearly loved her dearly, being willing to sell himself and the guy who could possibly save wizarding Britain to the bad guy who kidnapped his daughter that he had been campaigning against for years before anyone else in the media jumped on board, but love isn't enough to raise a kid. It's one of the most important parts and certainly helps, but raising a kid means you're preparing them to take on the world themselves once they grow up. Xeno didn't do that. Instead, he selfishly clung to his internal image of his daughter being a little girl under his protection for far too long without letting her grow into whomever she was supposed to be and even ignored what was happening in her life for his own to a greater extent than he should have. I don't plan of having Luna kidnapped and most probably tortured in Malfoy Manor, nor are death eaters going to rule the school her sixth year, so she won't have that means of gaining her sense of self and independence. With few other options, I decided I'd instead have her father take a step back, reflect like the intelligent Ravenclaw he's supposed to be, and try to do better. He may be stuck in his ways, but claims Luna is his world, ergo he should be willing to change things to help her become the best Luna she can.


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

The shopping trip with Narcissa Malfoy and, this year, Emma Granger, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The strange, dreamy countenance Luna had mostly dropped by breakfast in the Granger home had returned full force by the time the Potter boys and Malfoys had arrived. However, about halfway through the morning it seemed to be slipping quite rapidly. She still had an odd way about her and talked about her imaginary creatures, but it seemed to be more teasing than serious, indicating the girl knew they were imaginary from the start and used to them to put people off more than anything.

As Luna got more comfortable with the people around her, her defense mechanism seemed to become ammunition to tease and make the boys uncomfortable more than armor. She even beamed as brightly as any twelve year old girl being told how pretty they were when she found her dress and Narcissa had teared up, telling her how lovely it was. The older woman hadn't been able to stop herself from hurrying up behind Luna in the mirror to rearrange her hair various ways, immediately planning out shoes, accessories, and hairstyles that would compliment the gown. Hermione had tried her best to hide the reflexive snort she gave, remembering Draco's claim that his mother had always wanted a daughter to fuss over. Apparently any girl she had half a claim to fuss over would do at this point.

Once the girls, Narcissa, and Emma had found their gowns and accompanying shoes, they headed to Diagon Alley. Emma guided the older boys to Madam Malkin's to have their tuxedos altered to accommodate a year's growth and have one commissioned for Liam, who had been in the hospital for New Year's the year before. Narcissa had insisted on taking Luna with her to Gringotts to find something pretty to accessorize her dress with between her dowry and the Malfoy vault. Hermione was about to follow, infinitely curious about what exactly was in the Malfoy vault given Draco's interest in magical artifacts, when her mother pulled her along with them.

"Why don't you head over to McConnell's, Hermione? You said you needed to restock your potions kit and it should be fairly empty on Christmas Eve. Unless potions ingredients are a common gift in this world?" her mother insisted, stopping to wonder at her own question.

"Not that I'm aware of," she told her mother with a chuckle. "But you're right, it'd be best to do this efficiently. How am I going to pay, though? Should I get what Harry and Draco need as well?"

"Ask Mr. Snape if he'll just send us the bill. If not, have him hold your purchases aside and I'll come find you when we're done to pay. If he'll send the bill and you want to restock Harry and Draco's kits as well, I'm sure their parents will be ok with the bill being forwarded to them as well," she decided. "Take your time, ask your questions. We've got three boys to get fit, we'll be a while. I know you've always got more questions than time in that place and I've been assured the owner is the best person to ask...and has a fondness for you, at that."

"He likes my initiative and dedication," she admitted with a light blush. "Of course, he doesn't seem to mind me too much personally either, according to his wife. I talked to them at the funeral for a while."

"Hmm," Emma considered bringing up exploiting that personal connection to talk through her current problems, but immediately decided against it. "Well then, off you go. If we don't collect you before he kicks you out, we'll be here."

Hermione thanked her mom and split off from the group with a quick wave to the boys. She did need to fill her potions kit, but thought it an odd suggestion for her to do so now. She would have assumed that her mother would have sent her to one of the book stores to occupy her while she was busy, not an apothecary. Regardless, she was right about Hermione usually having more questions than time and she did like talking to Professor Snape. Her conversation with him at the funeral had taught her that he was enjoyable enough, though rather snarky, to interact with on a slightly personal level and she had appreciated conversing with him as a professor since the first time she had met him - the man certainly knew what he was talking about, sour demeanor aside.

"Miss Granger! How nice to see you! But what are you doing here on Christmas Eve of all days?" Delphine Snape asked as she entered the shop.

"We've been out shopping for clothes for the New Year's do at the Malfoy's. I'm all sorted, but the boys needed to stop by Madam Malkin's for adjustments. Mum suggested I take the opportunity to restock my potions kit, seeing as I asked about it the other day," she answered, hugging the older woman back as she came from behind the counter to greet her. "How have you both been?"

"Well, it was tough going for a little while, but Severus did his grieving in his own way and moved on. He still misses them, but has his own life to consider, you know. The shop's doing wonderfully, Titus is top of his class in school again, and the Ministry has given Albus Dumbledore and I a five year research grant to further the study of alchemy," she told her as excited as a woman suited to married life with Severus Snape could be.

"Titus is joining us at Hogwarts year after next, right?" Hermione asked, receiving a proud nod. "I'll keep an eye out for him. I wasn't aware you were an alchemist."

"Dumbledore offers it as a N.E.W.T. level elective. It's an extremely difficult and selective class to get into as there are only two - one for each year it's offered - and Albus himself teaches it," Delphine informed her. "You need more than good grades on exams to get in - he takes your classwork into account as well. If you're interested, you'll have to maintain high grades in transfiguration, charms, and potions and then further in ancient runes and arithmancy once you're a third year. You'll be picking your electives at the end of the year, but I'm sure those two already held a good appeal to someone with a mind like yours," she teased.

"I was actually pretty well decided on them, to be honest. The others seem a bit like...filler material? Though I imagine care of magical creatures could be fascinating and Charlie Weasley said divination was interesting enough, but not really worth the time if you don't have the sight."

"You're set on taking three? No one would think less of you, even as a Ravenclaw, to only take the required two subjects, you know. It'd give you more time to excel at them and keep free space in your schedule for alchemy come sixth year, which I assure you is far more fascinating than magical creatures or divination for someone with your intellect, though I may be a bit biased. Plus, rumor has it you've got a personal project about magical bonds going? Fewer classes means more time to focus on that as well," the older woman pointed out, drawing a slight frown from Hermione. "I'm not saying don't take a third elective. I'm saying think about it long and hard first. Maybe talk to Professor Flitwick in depth about it before your meeting to select classes so you have time to sleep on it. He was extremely helpful in my career councelling third, fifth, and seventh year."

"You were a Ravenclaw? I had just assumed you were...you know...with Professor Snape being your husband," Hermione stumbled a bit, slightly embarrassed.

"He _does_ seem the type to have only interacted with Slytherins, doesn't he? But his best friend from childhood was Gryffindor and he was quite the swot and spent plenty of time in Ravenclaw study groups," she assured the younger girl. "I didn't actually really meet him properly until just after the war. Alchemy had captured my interest so thoroughly that I managed to convince Albus into finding me a master to further my studies. Turns out Albus helps a lot of former students if they're dedicated enough to pursue a mastery...so speak his name and he shall appear! How are the crowds?" she asked as Severus Snape himself entered the store, looking grumpy as ever.

"Festive," he complained shortly, taking off his winter cloak and shaking some flurries off it. A glance at the window indicated a white Christmas indeed, this year. "Miss Granger. How unexpected."

"She's been shopping for the gala. Turns out you don't need a girl to fit some teenage boys into formal wear and Merlin knows what Cissy's up to now," his wife assured him, returning to her place behind the till.

"And you chose my shop rather than a bookstore to pass time time?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, but his dry tone hadn't turned to a warning yet, so she brushed off the implied disbelief.

"My kit needs stocking. If you're willing to forward the bills, I've got lists for Harry and Draco as well. I should probably include Luna too, come to that," she told him, joining him as he nodded and started about the store, gathering what she would need for a basic re-stocking of three second year and one first year potions kits according to Slughorn's syllabus, which hadn't changed since he himself had been at school.

"I'll have everything sent directly to your homes, payment on delivery, if that's alright?"

"If you could send Luna's to my home as well, that'd be wonderful. She's staying with us for the holiday, I'm sure her father will pay us back when he comes to join us," she requested, smiling slightly at the way he looked up to his wife, who simply nodded, having already filled out the forms to mail the supplies without question.

They weren't the most demonstrative couple, but Hermione liked the way they seemed to understand what the other was thinking and could interact more effectively than most couples she knew with barely a glance. Delphine was much warmer when she wasn't at her husband's side, taking on a bit of his stern collectiveness in what may be a show of solidarity, but a quirked eyebrow from her earning an immediate response and action from him showed the affection wasn't one sided.

"How has the past term been, Miss Granger? I don't seem to recall you being quite so pale and...small last we met," he asked pointedly, causing her cheeks to redden considerably.

"I'm top of all my classes. Padma and Draco have done the math and say even if I only get an E on every assignment in every class the rest of the year, I'll still beat out everyone else, so there's that," she offered, hoping to draw him into a conversation about her studies.

"And why have you overworked yourself to this point? It's not like an intelligent girl like yourself to neglect her health to this extent, especially to put yourself an _unnecessary_ distance ahead of your peers," he pressed. Damn Cassie and her interfering getting him concerned for a child that wasn't his and he barely knew. If he wasn't almost certain she had plotted to make his and Delphine's paths cross when Dumbledore was rather conveniently called away unexpectedly, he'd have been done with her meddling trying to cheer him up years ago.

"Well, we have to choose our electives at the end of the year and I wanted to be certain I'd be accepted into any I chose," she tried, earning a scoff.

"If you want to hide things from intelligent people, Miss Granger, you're going to have to learn to lie better," he informed her. "We both know any student can get into any elective they chose for their third year and grades only matter to continue them. You don't have to be so far beyond your peers for Flitwick to agree to anything you fancy there. How are things with your friends? Surely they aren't spending as much time studying as you if you're that far ahead. My godson, at the very least, has more sense than to neglect his health like you have. If you're out shopping with him and his mother, he's no doubt still friendly enough with you to try and...temper your behaviour."

Hermione blushed a bit redder at the admonishment. "He was rather outspoken about my need to sleep more the past month or so...and to stop skipping meals."

"Hmm. I'm sure he was. He seems to hold you in rather high regard, you know," he pointed out, giving her a very critical look that seemed to bore right through her.

"Severus!" his wife admonished from behind the counter with a tsk. "THAT is not polite."

"No, it was not," he admitted, looking back to Hermione with much less intensity. "I apologize for that, it was rather out of line. My godson's well being is important to me and I sometimes get a bit...overprotective."

"It's alright," she offered, a bit confused by the huff and mumbled disagreement from the counter. "I've just let my bad habits get away from me, I suppose."

"Yes," he agreed, taking what looked like a muggle carry-out cup of tea from his wife, pouring a bit from several unlabeled bottles Delphine had produced into it before putting on the lid and handing it to her. "Lavender and mint with a bit of this and that. Lavender's calming, mint will soothe your stomach. Make sure you drink all of this - don't share. Your friends don't need the vitamin and nutrient boost you do and amplifying one's ability to regain those can be detrimental to someone who doesn't need it. On the house for Draco's sake - this time. I expect _you_ to take better care of yourself in the future."

"Yes, professor. Thank you," she took the cup with a nod and a small smile.

"We're closing up for the night - there's a holiday play Titus managed to tangle himself into tonight and it's about time we get going. If you need something to occupy your time, I suggest wandering the occlumency section at Reams and Bindings - it's more complete than the one in Flourish and Blotts. They will do payment on delivery owl orders as well," he told her, getting more sincere thanks as she head to the exit, sipping her tea, which was excellent despite the potions. "And Miss Granger? Pinning your sanity and well being to one person is not fair to either you or them. And it never ends well, I would know. Perhaps you should take advantage of having a large group of people who care for you a bit more than you have."

"I will take that to mind, sir," she agreed, turning redder than she had yet as he locked the door behind her.

"You could have been nicer to her, she's a good girl. Extremely gifted. May even be your goddaughter in law some day," Delphine admonished as she sent of the owl orders and went to grab her cloak.

"She is gifted," he agreed. "But foolish. Cassie _would_ be concerned with another girl too clever for her own good pining after a ginger twin who doesn't notice her."

"Like you were any better with your study habits or pining after gingers! She's only thirteen, Severus!"

"Maybe…" he agreed and argued simultaneously, confusing even himself as he considered what he saw in the brief probe into her mind. "She isn't the one for Draco, though. You're wrong on that. She might just have Cassie's luck with her ginger rather than mine. Better even."

"Fancy a wager on it?" his wife teased as they walked out, turning lights off behind them.

"It wouldn't be fair, seeing as you're dead wrong," he snarked back, hesitating before continuing. "Do you remember me telling you about the girl I met during the war? The one who helped me build up the confidence I needed to get through the interview here?"

"Mya Harrington," she answered, photogenic memory coming to her aid. "You literally walked right into her and having a complete stranger treat you like a person and wish you well gave you the boost you needed to be impressive as you are. What about her?"

"Just something about that girl makes me remember her. Her mother isn't her. Or a witch. But I can't help thinking there's some sort of relation. There's a way about her and what I saw…"

"By probing the mind of an innocent young girl? _You_ should be ashamed of yourself, Severus, that was out of line and I suggest you put it out of your own mind. Her thoughts are her's alone and it'd do you good to respect that," his wife admonished, hurrying him to the apparition point by the Leaky Cauldron.

Later that night, after everyone had returned home, put away their purchases, and paid all their delivery owls, Hermione was curling up on her bed with one of her new occlumency books and a mug of hot cocoa to rest before midnight mass. She hadn't gotten very far in at all when her angry shriek shattered the peace of the house, as well as a good deal of anything made of glass through a surge of accidental magic. Lights came on in the back garden as James Potter, having felt the surge of magic, dashed towards his neighbor's house fearing the worst.

"Hermione! What happened?" he demanded, rushing through the back door as she stomped down the stairs, heavy tome in hand.

"Did you know Severus Snape was a legilimens?!" she demanded, shoving the book at his chest as her parents looked on bewildered and James' worried expression melted into calculating.

"I did not, actually, must be one of his post-Hogwarts skills. He used it on you?" James asked, smirk deepening as she nodded. "Then it seems Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs have been in retirement for _far_ too long," he prophesied with an almost evil chuckle.

In a flat in Diagon Alley, Severus Snape looked up from the late meal he was taking with his wife and son with a troubled expression, suppressing a shiver before shaking it off as nothing. Not far from there, in number twelve, Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black stopped mid sentence while entertaining his in-laws and got a wicked grin for no reason he could think of. Further away, Remus Lupin looked up from his book and into the fire in front of him, rubbing between his eyes at the inexplicable headache that appeared quite suddenly before padding off to the kitchen to put the kettle on for more tea to wash the taste of the headache potion in his cabinet away. Even further, in a dark fortress in the North Sea, an emaciated, sorrowful, and half mad man started sobbing as he stared at his left forearm in regret - the dementors must be coming closer again.


End file.
